A run of show is the minute-by-minute plan of a live event: every segment in order, with its start time, duration, owner, and the cues that connect one moment to the next. Crews also call it a show flow or rundown — the document that answers "what happens now, and what happens next" for everyone working the event.
This guide covers what a run of show contains, how it differs from an agenda, a template you can copy, and the step most guides skip: turning the plan into a live document the whole crew follows during the show itself.
What a run of show contains
The format is a table, and the discipline is that every row answers the same questions.
Per segment:
One craft decision per cue: does it fire on the clock or on a trigger? Clock cues suit anchored moments — doors, a broadcast window — but a lighting change tied to 14:32:10 breaks the moment a speaker runs ten seconds long. Cues that depend on people are safer anchored to a line or an action ("on 'please welcome'…"), and the run of show should say which kind each one is.
- Start time and duration — the clock backbone of the day.
- Segment name and owner — what is happening and whose moment it is.
- Talent and staging notes — who is on, from which side, with what in hand.
- Technical cues — audio, video, lighting, and stream actions tied to the segment.
- Buffer notes — where slack lives, because some segment will need it.
Run of show vs. agenda vs. script
The three documents serve three audiences. The agenda is for attendees: public, rounded to friendly times, free of logistics. The script is for the people speaking: exact words for scripted moments. The run of show is for the crew: precise, technical, and internal.
The common failure is publishing one document for all three jobs — an agenda with cue notes confuses attendees, and a run of show rounded to attendee-friendly times can't run a control booth. Keep the run of show internal and let the agenda be its public projection. Large productions go one step further and split the run of show by department — sound, lighting, stage management each get a view with their own cues in full and everyone else's as context.
A run of show template
This structure covers most events; adjust columns to your production's needs.
A conference-morning example:
| Time | Dur | Segment | Owner | Cues / notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08:30 | 30:00 | Doors + walk-in loop | FOH | Lobby countdown on screens |
| 09:00 | 05:00 | Opening + housekeeping | Host | Mics live at 08:58 |
| 09:05 | 20:00 | Keynote | Speaker A | Confidence monitor: wrap-up at 3:00 left |
| 09:25 | 05:00 | Transition + seating | Stage mgr | Walk-up music |
| 09:30 | 25:00 | Panel | Moderator | Count-up display; hard out 09:55 |
| 09:55 | 20:00 | Break | FOH | Foyer countdown to 10:15; buffer lives here |
From spreadsheet to live run of show
A run of show on paper stops being true at the first overrun. The live version keeps the plan and the clock in one place: in MaestroTimer, each row becomes a named timer with its duration, speaker, and notes — the room's timer list is the run of show, and the agenda view is its live, shareable projection.
Link the timers and the show advances exactly as the plan says; schedule the anchored moments — doors, resumption after lunch — to start at their clock times. Wrap-up thresholds put each segment's warning on the confidence monitor automatically, and when reality diverges from the plan, adjusting the live timer updates every screen at once: the run of show bends without forking into competing paper copies.
Getting it in front of the crew
The live run of show is links, not printouts: the agenda view for backstage and volunteers, the viewer for stage-facing countdowns, the controller for the show caller, the moderator view for a host sending cues.
Before doors, the live connections view lists every screen attached to the room — the last check that the run of show is actually reaching the people it choreographs.
FAQ
What does run of show mean?
The internal, minute-by-minute plan of a live event: segments in order with start times, durations, owners, and technical cues. Crews also call it a rundown or show flow.
What is the difference between a run of show and an agenda?
The agenda is the public, attendee-facing schedule; the run of show is the crew's precise internal version with cues and logistics. The agenda is a simplified projection of the run of show.
Who creates the run of show?
Usually the event producer or show caller, with input from stage management and technical leads — and one person should own the master copy so changes have a single source.
How do I make a run of show that updates live during the event?
Build each segment as a named timer in a shared room: linked timers advance the order, the agenda link shows everyone the live state, and changes from the controller reach every screen at once.
Make your run of show live
MaestroTimer runs in the browser: each segment a named timer, the agenda as a shareable live view, wrap-up cues on the confidence monitor, and one controller for the show caller.