Run of show template Every segment gets an owner and a plan B

This is a timed run of show for a half-day hosted event, in Excel. Every segment has an owner, what the guest leaves with, the AV cue and an “if it goes wrong” fallback. We pair it with a handoff pack list, in Word, so whoever sets the room can do it from the plan. Swap in your own segments (change one start time and every later segment moves with it), then print it for the team.

What is a run of show?

A run of show is the script your event runs from: every segment in order, with its start time, its owner, the cue that starts it, what the guest should walk away with and what happens if it goes wrong.

The agenda is for the guests. The run of show is for the team. Guests never see it, and the people running the room hold it all day, so it has to make sense to someone who sat in none of the planning meetings.

That last part is the whole job. A run of show that works only with the planner standing next to it is a schedule with a planner attached.

This page covers building it and handing it over. Calling the show from it on the day, giving each cue as it comes, is a bigger subject.

How do you fill in a run of show template?

One row per segment. One column per question the team will ask on the day. The sample rows are a half-day launch; every time and line in them is a placeholder, so replace them with your own. If a production crew will run the stage, sound and screens, the cue column is where they start. Designing the stage and the room this script runs in is part of corporate event production.

Column	What goes in it	The mistake to avoid
Start time	The clock time the segment begins. Change a start time and every later segment moves with it.	Timing the content and forgetting the gaps. A room change or a stage reset takes time too, so give it a row.
Segment	What happens, in the team’s words: the welcome, the product walkthrough, the break activity, the hands-on session, the close.	Bundling two things into one row. If the break and the contest announcement have different owners, they are two rows.
Owner	One name. The person who makes sure the segment happens and makes the call if it doesn’t.	A team name, or two names. “Marketing” can’t be found in a hallway.
What the guest leaves with	The one thing a guest should take out of this segment: something they know, something they can do, or something in their hand.	Leaving it blank for check-in and the breaks. If a segment gives the guest nothing, ask why it’s on the program.
AV cue	What has to be live, on screen or playing as the segment starts: which mic, which file, which music, on whose signal.	Writing “AV ready.” The tech table needs the mic, the file and the signal, not a status.
If it goes wrong	The plan B for this segment, written before the day: what the owner does if the video won’t play, the speaker runs long or the prizes haven’t arrived.	Leaving it empty, or writing “improvise.” On the day, nobody has time to invent a plan B with guests watching.

Read across a finished row and it answers every question someone will ask in the wings: when, what, who, why it matters to the guest, what’s on, and what if.

How do you build a run of show, step by step?

Build it in this order. Each step ends with a check; move on when it passes.

1. Start from the outcome. My rule: define what should be true 30 days after the event, then plan backward. Write the answer as one sentence, because that sentence decides which segments earn a place. The wider process, from the outcome to the debrief, is in the guide on how to plan a corporate event. Done when the outcome sentence sits above the first row, where the whole team will read it.
2. Put the segments in order. List everything from doors open to the last guest leaving, including check-in, breaks and any room change. Done when nothing that happens in the room is missing a row.
3. Set the times backward from the end. Start with the finish time on the invitation and work back to doors. Because every later segment moves when a start time changes, you can try a longer session and see what it costs the rest of the program. Done when the last segment ends at the time guests were promised.
4. Fill in the owner, the take-away and the cue for every row. Use the table above. Done when no row has a blank in those three columns and no row has two owners.
5. Write the fallback for every segment. Ask each row’s owner: what is the likeliest way this goes wrong, and what will you do then? Write the answer in their words. Done when every row has a plan B its owner has agreed to.
6. Fill in the day before and the morning of. The workbook’s second sheet covers those two stretches. Use it for everything that has to be true before doors open: what arrives, what gets set, what gets tested, and who checks it. Done when every line there has a name and a time.
7. Freeze it before rehearsal day. Put the freeze point on everyone’s calendar. After it, a single named keeper makes every change, and every change means a reprint. Done when every team member holds a printed copy of the same version.
8. Rehearse from the printed copy. Walk the run of show with every owner, row by row, and have each one say their cue and their plan B out loud. Theater calls this a cue-to-cue: skip the content, run the transitions. Done when every owner can walk their own rows without the planner prompting them.

If rehearsal turns up a real problem, the keeper fixes it and reprints. Two versions in the room is worse than one imperfect one.

What goes in the handoff pack?

The run of show tells the team when. The handoff pack tells them where and how.

The handoff pack list in this download is written for whoever will set the room, and it carries its own test: could someone who has never seen the plan open the boxes and get it right? Write it to a named person, in plain sentences.

The pack holds the current event brief, the run of show printed for every team member, the outstanding items list as it stands that day, every guest email (so the team has seen what guests have seen) and the handoff notes. For the outstanding items, the event planning checklist template gives the final days a punch list. The final check-in list, and table assignments if you have them, go straight to the on-site lead, never pasted into the brief.

The handoff notes run one block per station: check-in, guest tables, the tech table, the swag or materials table, the stage, the break activity and the capture station. Each block answers the same questions:

• What goes here, and which box is it in?
• How is it set, and where are the spares?
• Does it need power or batteries, and when does it switch on?
• Which photo do you want of it?

The rest of the list covers the boxes (contents, station, arrival and addressee, with tracking numbers sent by message, not written in the document), what the venue or host is placing so nobody duplicates it, reminders for the day, the photos and video to capture, and an on-call line with a name, a time window and a number.

Two parts do more work than their size. “Your call” names the items with no set place and lets the person in the room decide where they go, or whether they go out at all. Trusting that person is part of the handoff. And under the on-call line sits the rule: if something isn’t in the pack, call, and don’t guess on anything a guest will see.

The pack is done when it passes its own test: hand it to someone who has never seen the plan, and they can tell you what goes where without asking.

What other run of show templates don’t tell you

A run of show template can stop at time, segment and owner and still look finished. It fills the page. It prints well. And it has nothing to say the first time something goes wrong.

Not to kick the hornet’s nest, but a run of show without a fallback column is a hope. When the video won’t play or the room runs long, the segment’s owner has seconds, and the guests are watching. With a written plan B, they read it and act. Without one, they improvise in front of the room, or go looking for the planner, who may be on the other side of the building.

So write every plan B at a desk, not in the wings, and put the owner’s name beside it. A plan B nobody is allowed to call is just a note.

Common questions

What is a run of show? A run of show is the team’s script for an event: every segment in order, with its start time, owner, cue, what the guest leaves with and a fallback if it goes wrong. The team runs the event from it; guests never see it.

What is the difference between a run of show and an agenda? The agenda is for guests: what is happening and when. The run of show is for the team: who owns each segment, what cue starts it, what the guest should leave with and what happens if it goes wrong.

What should a run of show include? For each segment: the start time, what happens, one owner, what the guest leaves with, the AV cue and an “if it goes wrong” fallback. Add a sheet for the day before and the morning of.

When should you finalize a run of show? Freeze it before rehearsal day, so the rehearsal runs the version the room will run. After the freeze, a single named keeper makes any change and reprints it for everyone.

What is a handoff pack? A handoff pack is what the on-site team needs to set and run the room from the plan: the brief, printed copies of the run of show, the outstanding items, the guest emails and setup notes for every station. Its test: could someone who has never seen the plan open the boxes and get it right?

Script it, then hand it over

Every row gets a name and a plan B. Then the room can run the show.

For an outside read on your run of show before the day, request a complimentary event assessment.