Preparation for a trivia competition is a strange mix of memory training, curiosity, and strategy. There may seem to be those who naturally excel at remembering insignificant facts, but the truth is that better trivia players generally build up their knowledge over time through often deliberate efforts. To prepare, it works best to treat trivia like any other game: you practice, learn habits, and train your mind to retrieve information quickly under stress.
One of the best ways to put yourself in the shape of a trivia player is to soak yourself in lists of fun facts. They might seem trivial to start with, like the fact that octopuses have three hearts or that honey doesn't rot, but these little morsels of fact are exactly the kind of thing that comes up on quizzes. Trivia questions rather favor broad, shallow knowledge, so mastering facts from a wide range of subjects, history, science, popular culture, geography, literature, sets you in good stead.
Fun facts lists also teach you how trivia questions are structured. You start to notice what kind of facts always seem to cycle back in: capitals, record holders, firsts, award winners, dates of notable events. The more lists you do, the more your brain starts to make connections. For instance, if you know Marie Curie won two Nobel Prizes, that tidbit might enable you to answer a follow-up question about scientists, physics, or pioneering women.
Flashcards and quiz apps are helpful, but one of the things that makes fun fact lists so powerful is that they're generally going to be fun. I.e., you're more likely to remember it because you laughed or were surprised. Weird facts, like the fact that wombat poo is cube-shaped, stay with you because they're just so weird. And when you're racing, the facts that stick are the facts that score you points.
It's also a good idea to focus your study on areas where you have less knowledge. If you're a sports fan, that's great, but don't skip areas such as art, opera, or American presidents because they are dull. Fun fact lists are a great way to dip your toes in areas that you don't know as well without diving into a big textbook. Over time, you'll accumulate enough of a base so you'll be okay when the host brings out a category that used to be your worst.
Besides memorizing information, a portion of the effort in preparation for trivia is building recall speed and confidence. Game shows, online trivia games, or doing it with friends can be a means of mimicking competition pressure. Practice answering on your own or timed out loud to get used to thinking quickly. And if you answer incorrectly? That's okay. Even an incorrect response can teach you something for the next round.
Ultimately, trivia is a question of taking an interest in curiosity. The more you take an interest in learning just for learning's sake, the better you'll do when it counts. So whether you're thumbing through a trivia book, reading a "Today I Learned" subreddit, or scrolling on some random fact-of-the-day app, you're keeping your mind sharp, and having fun doing it.
