What Should Alex Trebek Know About You?

Posted: Thursday June 30, 2011 under Lead Myself

Imagine you are picked to be on Jeopardy. What would make you more nervous, the prospect of competing on TV’s smartest game show … or that little 30-second part at the beginning where you have to share something interesting about yourself?

NPR did a segment the other day on how Jeopardy contestants prepare for their opening introduction, and you might be surprised how much it freaks a lot of them out.

Contestants are sent a three-page, single-spaced questionnaire designed to help evoke the most interesting occurrences in their lives. They have one week to complete the questionnaire, which includes some memorable examples from past contestants, like:

“Fabio once saved my life.”

“I broke my toe while chasing a bear.”

“I used to recruit spies for the C.I.A.”

Because Jeopardy tapes five shows a day, and any contestant could win five times, contestant coordinators need to have at least five such personal stories (and five different change of clothes) at the ready for each contestant.

This seems to be a worthwhile exercise even if you aren’t picked to be on the show: to take some time and think about the most meaningful and memorable things we’ve experienced throughout our life. So, without the help of the Jeopardy questionnaire, I started thinking about what five interesting things about myself might I choose to share with Alex Trebek … and the world. Things that wouldn’t embarrass me too much on national TV, anyway.

I’m thinking that “I like to read” or “I got my master’s degree” or “I had a kidney stone” or “I lived through the coldest day in Chicago’s recorded history by not going outside” probably won’t cut it.

Maybe something more like:

“I rode in a Disney World elevator with the Jackson 5 in the 1970s.” (Maybe not, though; my only memory of it is dad telling us the story.)

“I had eleven different part-time jobs in college, three of them at the same time during my senior year.” (I don’t know … might sound like I’m flaky and couldn’t hold a job.)

“I interviewed the project leaders of the definitive hunt for the Loch Ness Monster in a Drumnadrochit, Scotland pub when I was 22.” (Could be embarrassing because I fibbed a bit about my work experience as a freelance magazine writer to get invited to their table at the pub.)

“I left a rising corporate career to become an offshore clam farmer.” (We lost far more clams that we ever actually “farmed,” and, again, sounds kind of flaky.)

“I recently finished my first 400-page novel.” (Unpublished.)

There’s five. All a little iffy to share with the world, but hey, it’s something. And taking the time to search my past and write these down is a great reminder that life is about living. We should appreciate all our stories and keep adding to them.

Give it a try. What five things should Alex Trebek know about you?

(source: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/26/137429737/what-story-would-you-tell-on-jeopardy)