How to write a run of show
A good run of show is one the crew can follow without asking you anything. These steps get most events there.
1. Start from the hard times
Write down the times that can't move: crew call, doors, show start, any break the venue or the catering sets, and when you have to be out. Everything else fits between those.
2. List the segments
Break the event into its big pieces, such as pre-show, the opening, each speaker or quarter, the break and the close. In the editor these are the red segment rows.
3. Break each segment into cues
A cue is anything that changes for someone on the crew: a video starts, a mic goes live, a read is made, a light changes. If nothing changes, it isn't a new cue.
4. Give every cue a duration
Use real lengths for films and reads, and honest guesses for speeches. Set the show's start time and the sheet adds them up, so you can see straight away whether the plan fits the room booking.
5. One column per position
Write what each position does in its own column, in the words they'd use. Leave a cell empty when a position has nothing to do, rather than writing “none”.
6. Write the reads in full
Anything said over the PA or by a host goes in word for word, with names spelled the way they're said. Nobody should be making up an introduction live.
7. Put standbys in the notes
If a position needs a warning before a cue, say so on the cue before it: “Standby VID 9”. That's how a caller keeps a show tight.
8. Lock it and date it
Give the sheet a version and a date, like “v3, locked Tuesday”, and send the PDF. When something changes after that, bump the version so nobody is calling from an old copy.
The templates include two sheets written this way from start to finish, a conference session and a game day.