Have you ever wondered how Jeopardy! contestants get ready to appear on the show? Chances are you aren’t quite sure how they prepare to compete against fellow academics and nerds alike for the chance to garner renown and win ample cash. Jeopardy! is debatably the most famous quiz show in the history of television, and yet there’s still plenty of mystery and intrigue surrounding the contestants’ pre-show proceedings. Do they receive a study guide? What about a chance to rehearse for the show? Do they edit out wrong answers? And how do they hit the buzzer so quickly every time?
Every individual Jeopardy! contestant has their own unique strategy they use to get ready for their television appearances. However, there are quite a few common preparation methods used to study and rehearse for a big filming day.
Good Jeopardy! prep can separate a longtime champion from a one-time competitor. In fact, many Jeopardy! winners give credit to their pre-show rituals for helping them to succeed once the pressure’s on. Some may even argue that current contestants can be a little too prepared for each episode. Read on to find out just how these brainiacs expand their knowledge and use their power before the cameras start rolling.
Is There an Official Jeopardy! Study Guide?
How do Jeopardy! contestants study up for the high-pressure competition of a televised game show? Do the show runners provide a study guide or Jeopardy! textbook to aid in their filming preparation?
To the chagrin of many prospective contestants, neither of these things exist. Jeopardy! questions encompass every possible topic or theme one could think of, so there’s no way to notate all the possible questions and answers. One can’t condense the entirety of human knowledge into a measly study guide, after all!
If you’re searching for a Jeopardy!-sanctioned guide to the show, you’re out of luck. However, there are other show-approved ways contestants have used to get ready for the competition. Jeopardy! states on their website that the best way to see if you’d be a good fit for the show is to take a timed practice test. This could show a Jeopardy! fan if their knowledge of trivia is broad enough for them to be well-suited to the competition.
Official Question Sources
In addition to the practice test, Jeopardy! has a couple of apps to prepare potential contestants and entertain casual viewers alike. Jeopardy! World Tour is the show’s official app for trivia on the go. Additionally, the J!6 game gives trivia buffs a chance to see if they would be cut out for the show by asking unused sixth questions from real Jeopardy! categories. Either way, these games provide convenient opportunities for trivia practice on a smart device or laptop.
These methods can be helpful to figure out one’s aptitude for the show and increase one’s knowledge of obscure trivia facts. Remember, these tools are just for fun and do not determine contestant placement. To be approved as a competitor, one must complete multiple rounds of Jeopardy!’s testing and auditioning procedures.
Preparation Strategies
Jeopardy! preparations are left largely to the contestants themselves. Though this might sound daunting, there are plenty of ways for individuals to train for the show at home. Read on to find out what methods winners have used to study, and which one is most suitable to your personal learning style.
Watch the Show
As self-explanatory as it may sound, perhaps the best way to prepare to appear on Jeopardy! is by watching a whole lot of it. Six-time champion Jared Hall credited his wins in part to his frequent viewing of the show. In a Mic.com article, Hall said that “once you start to get inside the minds of the people who write the clues, coming up with your responses will be much easier… watching the show religiously will also help attune you to the show’s overall rhythm and pace.” Can’t argue with that!
Jeopardy! airs daily on weeknights via ABC and is also available for streaming on any service that offers ABC—if you’re up for a good old-fashioned binge watch, streaming would be the way to go. Grab the popcorn and a sturdy notebook and settle into the couch for as much Jeopardy! as you can take in one sitting or watch incrementally leading up to your own filming days. Plus, if you do a deep dive into the Jeopardy! episode archives, you might even be asked a question that’s come up before!
Explore J!Archive
If you don’t fancy sitting through hours of Jeopardy!-watching, J!Archive is a wonderful way to familiarize yourself with previous Jeopardy! questions. This online database chronicles nearly every piece of trivia from the show dating all the way back to its first season in 1984.
Each episode’s questions are formatted like a Jeopardy! board. You can move your mouse over a question to reveal the answer, making studying simple.
J!Archive isn’t affiliated with Jeopardy! in any way. It’s maintained entirely by fans of the show, making its extensiveness even more impressive.
Fall Down a Wikipedia Rabbit Hole
Where do you go when you want to deep-dive into a new topic? Yep, the free internet encyclopedia Wikipedia! Wikipedia is often the quickest way to find as much information on a subject as you can in one place. When studying for Jeopardy!, this can prove very useful. Champion Matt Amodio, who holds the third-longest winning streak in Jeopardy! history, gave credit to Wikipedia for helping him expand his knowledge base in advance of the show. He told USA today that “on a regular basis, I just fall into a rabbit hole of Wikipedia links, (and) every article opens up 20 more things that I have questions about it. This is just how I spend my day.” If you’re awaiting your Jeopardy! appearance, having a few Wikipedia tabs open at a time wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Flashcards
Prospective Jeopardy! contestants might find it useful to employ traditional study strategies to grow their knowledge in advance of their big break. Creating flashcards is one classic and reliable method to do this.
One can scour past shows and copy down questions and their answers on opposite sides of an index card. Alternatively, one could come up with their own obscure trivia facts to quiz themself on.
Many champions, including Arthur Chu, have sworn by flashcards as their primary study strategy. In a 2014 Mental Floss interview, Chu stated that he “figured out what knowledge is the most valuable for Jeopardy!, and then matched that up to my own deficits in knowledge, and just hyper-focused on boning up on those specific areas of knowledge” while using an online or app-based flashcard program.
Having a concrete, written copy of a question and its answer can help one’s brain to process and solidify its newfound knowledge. Don’t want to study all by yourself? Grab a partner to quiz you—that stack of flashcards isn’t going to shuffle itself!
Practice Reflexes
Though it might sound silly, getting those quick-twitch hand muscles in gear is of the utmost importance for future Jeopardy! contestants. Much of the time, a speedy buzzer push can separate a halfway-decent competitor from a big winner. Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel published Secrets of the Buzzer: A Manifesto on Buzzer Speed in 2015 to highlight the often-overlooked physical reflexive aspect of Jeopardy!. He emphasized that improving one’s reaction time was the best thing a contestant could do to improve their chances of winning. After all, if a contestant knows the answer but can’t push the button fast enough, what good does all that studying do for them, anyway?
The secret to a great buzz-in is the signaling button. The buzzer is held vertically in the palm of one’s hand while the thumb of that hand hovers over the raised red button. In other words, good thumb mobility and flexibility can be a huge help.
Additionally, contestants must make sure not to press the button before the host finishes reading the prompt. Jumping the gun even by a fraction of a second can cause them to miss their chance to answer and cost them the round. Activities such as practicing the piano, playing video games, solving a Rubik’s cube, or even buying a buzzer to practice with, could help a Jeopardy! contestant improve upon their dexterity and speed to ward against this.
Ultimately, Jeopardy! contestants need to trust their instincts to gauge proper buzz-in speed. Frequent winner and current host of the show Ken Jennings stated that it helped him to try not to think about buzzing in at the proper time, stating “the more I thought about the timing, the less I could nail it. When I could somehow just Zen out and not think about what I was doing, I would do okay.”
The last thing you want to do on a trivia game show is jeopardize (haha!) your chances of winning by making a physical error. However, telling a bigtime academic not to think too hard is much easier said than done. Proper buzz-in practice ahead of showtime will help to train one’s reflexes, improving their reaction time and assuaging their fears.
Read Trivia Books
Trivia buffs are often affectionately referred to as “walking encyclopedias,” so why not crack one open? A multi-subject book covering an array of facts is the perfect tool for a future Jeopardy! contestant. Almanacs and encyclopedias make it easy to take in lots of new information in one sitting.
There are tons of trivia books on the market to choose from. The Cultural Literacy Trivia Guide is one written with quiz show contestants in mind. Ken Jennings’s Trivia Almanac and The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge are two books spanning many topics, ideal to prepare you for Jeopardy!. With endless almanacs to choose from, one can absorb numerous new facts in advance of filming.
Books Written By Former Contestants
Several past Jeopardy! contestants (and hosts!) have published books about their experiences competing on the show. While these testimonies about their unique journeys were most likely written to answer the questions of avid Jeopardy! fans, they can also serve as handy guides for those who wish to follow in their footsteps. After all, what’s more helpful than hearing about what it’s like to appear on a television game show from someone who has actually done it?
If you’re an eager reader (which seems likely if you’re the type of intellectual who enjoys Jeopardy!), there’s a wide array of Jeopardy!-centric books to choose from. Prisoner of Trebekistan: A Decade in Jeopardy! by Bob Harris is one of them. This funny memoir highlights the intricacies of the show in an easily-readable and enjoyable way.
Current host Ken Jennings has written numerous books, all of which could provide ample insight into the game show; Trivia Almanac and Brainiac are especially helpful in providing specific Jeopardy!-oriented trivia advice.
And if you’re feeling especially sentimental, Alex Trebek’s memoir, entitled The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life, will fill you with a newfound appreciation for the late longtime host.
These books provide tricks to help future contestants gain a win, guidance to aid in navigating the foreign landscape of a television studio, and solace that they can save themselves even when the outcome does not seem desirable. After absorbing dry facts from academic articles and textbooks to study, the aforementioned reads can provide some much-needed levity.
Rehearse At Home
No matter how vast one’s knowledge of trivia may be, it can all go out the window once the cameras begin to roll. It’s important to prepare for the pressure of being filmed, especially because many contestants may not have television experience ahead of their first Jeopardy! episode. After all, appearing on the Jeopardy! soundstage is very different from sitting hunched over a laptop deep in thought.
To mimic the show’s atmosphere, stand at a lectern or with a podium (or both!) in front of your television set as the show is broadcast, and answer the questions aloud in a strong voice. One can use this method to try to improve upon the contestants’ speed, seeing if they can speak the answer more quickly than it’s uttered on air.
Remember, there is a live studio audience present during the filming of Jeopardy!, so it would behoove any future contestant to embrace being watched and learn to feed off of the crowd’s energy. Ask friends or family members to sit and cheer you on as you practice at home to get a feel for an audience. (Note: throughout the pandemic, there has not been a regular studio audience present).
Be Comfortable On Set
Contestants are under a lot of pressure while filming Jeopardy!, and the last thing they want to be worrying about is their physical discomfort. 2021 Champion Juliet Mayer stated that her best advice for competitors would be to avoid painful footwear, warning them by saying “don’t wear heels! My feet were killing me by the end of the day, and no one can tell how tall you are anyway.” Behind the podium, one’s feet aren’t visible, so supportive sneakers and orthopedic clogs alike are still on the table.
In addition to comfy shoes, contestants should try to feel at ease in their clothes, so they don’t get distracted by them while filming. Good posture and a solid stance never hurt, either; in fact, a professional and poised appearance can only help to convince oneself of their readiness for the show. Indeed, looking the part can help ease any imposter syndrome and help one feel like a true trivia pro.
In addition to comfy shoes, contestants should try to feel at ease in their clothes so they don’t get distracted by them while filming. Good posture and a solid stance never hurt, either; in fact, a professional and poised appearance can only help to convince oneself of their readiness for the show. Indeed, looking the part can help ease any imposter syndrome and help one feel like a true trivia pro.
Check Out Trivia Bliss!
Last but not least, trivia websites make it easy to access large quantities of questions and answers at once. Take a look at Trivia Bliss’s very own question database. Here, you can browse trivia from a myriad of categories or generate a quiz of random trivia. Whether you’re looking to brush up on your knowledge of entertainment, sports, geography, or just about anything else, Trivia Bliss is a great place to start.
Conclusion
In summary, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to Jeopardy! preparation, but there are plenty of handy strategies that can help you get as ready as you’ll ever be. (And even then, it doesn’t mean you’ll know everything… sometimes to hilarious results!). Also, don’t forget to prepare for what you’ll do outside of the Jeopardy! studio. If you’re a big-time trivia fan with faith in your reflexes and a competitive spirit, consider giving these tips a try–you may even decide to try out yourself!
And if you’re looking to brush up on more Jeopardy! knowledge, check out our articles on how to defeat the winning-est Jeopardy! champions, understanding the Coryat score, the most common Jeopardy! categories, examples of Final Jeopardy questions, and more!
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