How To Get Better At Trivia

Are you tired of getting picked last when people are selecting teams for 30 seconds or other similar trivia games? Do you want to improve your general knowledge and finally show everyone what you're made of? Do you want to win a trivia night? Well, read on how to get better at trivia quizzes. So what is general knowledge, and how does it apply to trivia? General knowledge is defined as knowledge of many different things as opposed to detailed knowledge of a particular subject.

How to get better at trivia and improve general knowledge

So if you want to get better at trivia games, win at trivia nights, or know all the answers when you watch a trivia show - you have to improve your general knowledge.

1. Watching TV

Watching TV is a sure way to expand your general knowledge. There are a variety of programs that are intended to educate the viewer. Such programs can be specifically dealing with education, such as learning channels or National Geographics. Others can teach indirectly, like cartoons and reality TV shows. Another excellent program to keep up with current affairs and pick up some general knowledge is the daily news.

2. Listening to the radio

The radio will always serve as an information provider. Even though the communication device is becoming obsolete, it still serves its purpose. Talk show radio, and news broadcasts are a great way to gain new knowledge and supplement existing knowledge. 

3. Listening to Podcasts

Podcasts are also a great & engaging way to learn a specific topic and develop a particular interest you like. There are many podcasts on many topics and interests such as history, politics, animals, money and stock market, real estate, business, entrepreneurship, psychology, parenthoods, self-development, science, education, and more. 

4. Read Newspapers

 Many say that print media is dying, and while this may be true, the knowledge one can gain from reading will never die. A newspaper can provide news and other exciting facts, especially from the opinions section. Magazines also keep one abreast of pop culture. The information one can pick up from a single issue of People magazine could be the answer to that winning trivia question.

5. Social media

Although the information picked up from here should be taken with a pinch of salt, social media is the perfect avenue to gain up-to-date information about almost anything. Many social media platforms help to provide up-to-date information on current affairs and pop culture. The media platform also serves to generate breaking news at a rate much faster than any other platform. Sites such as Twitter and Facebook offer services that help to provide unlimited avenues of information.

6. General knowledge websites

These websites, such as QuizBeez.com, may include search engines or offer trivia questions and answers and help to improve general knowledge. These websites aim to entertain and educate the user while simultaneously training the brain. 

7. Do trivia quizzes and questions

There's no easier way to up your general knowledge than to play fun trivia quizzes. The quizzes are a lot of fun, but they also increase your understanding of almost anything and everything: History, Science, Human body, geography, movies, and many more trivia quizzes. This is the easiest method to gain vast amounts of general knowledge. The benefit of trivia quizzes is that, while you're not actively cramming these random facts, the brain does store them in its memory for future use. Don't forget to check our Quiz Beez home page when you finish reading this article, for more educational fun.

What are Trivia Questions?

So what exactly are trivia questions, you ask, and how do they differ from any other type of question? Trivia questions and answers are a form of trivia that usually comes in the form of a quiz, similar to a multiple-choice exam. Trivia questions are more exciting and fun than just reading random facts. It gives the reader a chance to test their knowledge of general truths.

A few examples of trivia questions are:

• Who is the president of Brazil?
• What movie won the best picture at the 2020 Oscars?
• Which country is known for the manufacturing of bubble gum?
• How many kilometers are in a mile?
• Which countries are still ruled by monarchs?

(Were you able to correctly answer them all?)

Trivia questions often come with a range of multiple-choice options to choose from.

How to practice for trivia and improve your trivia skills

Most people believe that the only way to get good at trivia is strict memorization. This may be partially true, but there are other ways to improve trivia skills that don't involve cramming the encyclopedia.

1. Tune out the unnecessary information in the question correctly

Some trivia questions are long-winded to confuse the participants. A question as simple as "What war was fought in 1812?" can be presented as a complicated question like "The Battle of Rappahannock River, the Siege of Fort Meigs, and the Battle of Stoney Creek all occurred during what 1812 war?" It seems like two different questions, doesn't it? That's why it's essential to be able to filter out the unnecessary bits to make the question easier to understand.

2. Keep an eye out for hints

Sometimes questions may give subtle hints of the right answers or the incorrect answers if you pay close enough attention. Always make sure to invest your time in reading the question.

For example: "What colorful soul singer recorded 'Living in America' for Rocky IV?" You're given the options: "Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Ray Charles."

The question stumps you because you've never even watched the Rocky movies - so what do you do?

Searching for hints can reveal glaring answers tucked away in the smart usage of words. The word "colorful" was purposefully used to describe the singer. Looking through the list of singers, the name "Brown" stands out. Brown is a color - thus making the singer "colorful." The answer is James Brown.

 

3. Read up on subjects that interest you

You can study random facts and cram them, and it would probably improve your trivia skills. But that's no fun. The best way to learn is to find ways to engage with the knowledge that makes it interesting. Make Wikipedia your friend and get lost in the weird and wonderful world of knowledge. Even subjects that need to be memorized, like state presidents, can be made more interesting by making it into a rap song or a fun game.

4. Stay on top of current affairs

Keep up with the news. Watch or read at least 30 minutes of news daily. Also, make sure to keep up with pop culture. This can be done by spending at least 30 min on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Many trivia games feature topics relevant to current affairs and pop culture. This method of gaining knowledge is far more effective than attempting to cram information.

5. Spot the patterns

If you have a particularly sharp eye (or ear), you may start picking up patterns in the trivia questions. These patterns can be anything from all the correct answers being third in the sequence or all the questions focusing on a specific topic. Once a pattern is established, it's easy to exploit. Be on the lookout for subjects that seem to pop up all the time: celebrities, capital cities, movies, etc.

How to guess multiple-choice questions

Trivia questions are generally multiple-choice, similar to multiple-choice exams. As mentioned earlier, there can be patterns that can help identify the answers. One of the ways can be found in the layout of the multiple-choice options. Other times, one has to guess or even preferred, use the information he has for educated guesses. Research has established that.

In multiple-choice questions, B and E are the most likely answers in 4- and 5-option questions, respectively. In addition, the same answer is least likely to be repeated in the next question.

Others argue that C is the best answer to choose when guess-answering a question on a multiple-choice test. This theory is based mainly on the assumption that the multiple-choice options are not randomly assigned.

So which is it? Unfortunately, there are no guarantees when guessing an answer, but there are a few tips to try, according to William Poundstone, author of "Rock Breaks Scissors: A Practical Guide to Outguessing and Outwitting Almost Everybody. The man claims to have found several common patterns in multiple-choice tests.

1. Don't guess. Apply a pattern

Poundstone says that "none of the above" or "all of the above" were correct responses 52% of the time. Picking one of these responses has better odds than random guessing.

2. Look at the surrounding answer choices

Look at the surrounding answers to eliminate options. If you know the answer to Question 1 and Question 3, you can conclude that the answer for Question 2 will differ from both of them. This doesn't necessarily give you the answer, but it does eliminate some options.

3. Choose the longest answer

According to Poundstone, the longest answer on multiple-choice tests is usually correct, and the shortest answers are generally the wrong answers. This is because the long answer usually goes into detail, and examiners would not try so hard if the answer were wrong. If the long answer makes sense, then it's likely the correct answer. Make sure that it is not long and repetitive.

Applying these tips should help improve your odds at guessing through multiple-choice trivia questions. These 'cheat codes' should not be attempted in high school exams or any other critical examination. Studying is still the best option to tackle multiple-choice test questions.

Hopefully, the guesswork is kept to a minimum even in trivia because after applying the tips mentioned above to improve your general knowledge, you should be a real-deal trivia whizz in no time.

For more great articles that can help you improve your general knowledge check our trivia blog. You can also start reading more fun facts, or read amazing lists of fun facts about cats, fun facts about animals, geography fun facts, history fun facts, and more.