Free resource
The run of show template that actually keeps time
Grab a clean run of show template, learn the columns every run of show needs, and copy it straight into Excel or Google Sheets. Then we'll be honest about the one thing a spreadsheet can't do — keep your timing right when the day moves.
What a run of show is (and how it differs from a rundown)
A run of show is the master plan for a live event: every segment in order, how long each one runs, who's on stage or on mic, and the cues each department needs to hit. It's the single document the showcaller, stage manager, AV crew and clients all point at when someone asks "what's next?"
People often ask how a run of show differs from a rundown. Honestly, the two words overlap. A rundown is the broadcast-flavored version — an ordered, timed list of segments the control room works from. A run of show is the same idea with a bit more event context: talent, logistics, the stuff that lives backstage. In practice they're cousins, and most teams use whichever word their industry grew up with. Either way, the job is the same — keep the show on time and keep everyone reading from the same line.
The thing that separates a good run of show from a glorified to-do list is timing. If your document can tell you that you're three minutes heavy before the keynote even starts, it's doing its job. If it's just a static list of items, you're doing the math in your head while the clock runs. More on that below.
The columns every run of show needs
Strip a run of show back to what actually matters on the day and you land on a handful of columns. Here's a real, usable layout you can copy into a sheet right now. Add or drop columns to taste, but don't lose the timing ones.
| Cue / Item | Start time | Duration | Segment | Talent / Who | Audio | Video | Lighting | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 09:00 | 00:05 | Doors & walk-in | Crew | Walk-in music | Holding slide | House up | Confirm room ready |
| 2.0 | 09:05 | 00:03 | Opening VT | — | VT audio | Roll opener | Stage wash | Fade music under VT |
| 3.0 | 09:08 | 00:10 | Host welcome | Host | Host mic live | IMAG | Spot centre | Hard time: keynote at 09:18 |
| 4.0 | 09:18 | 00:25 | Keynote | CEO | Lav + clicker | Slides + IMAG | Keynote look | Advance own slides |
What each column is for:
- Cue / Item — a stable number for each row so anyone can call "stand by for 4.0" without ambiguity.
- Start time — the clock time an item is meant to begin. Some are hard (locked) times; most just follow the item before them.
- Duration — how long the segment runs. This is the number your whole timeline is built on. Get it wrong and every start time after it is wrong too.
- Segment — a plain-language name for what's happening: walk-in, opening VT, keynote, panel, break.
- Talent / Who — who's on stage, on mic, or responsible for the item.
- Audio — what A1 needs to do: which mics are live, what music or VT audio rolls, where things fade.
- Video — what's on the screens: slides, IMAG, a VT roll, a holding card.
- Lighting — the look for each moment: house up, stage wash, a spotlight, a keynote state.
- Notes — everything else worth saying out loud: hard times, reminders, "advance own slides", who to cue next.
That's what to include in a run of show for most live and corporate-AV gigs. Smaller jobs can drop a department column or two; bigger broadcasts add graphics, comms and camera columns. The timing columns stay no matter what.
Building one in Excel or Google Sheets — and the honest catch
A spreadsheet is a perfectly good place to draft a run of show. Here's how to make a tidy one, whether you're in Excel or Google Sheets:
- Put the headers above in row 1 and freeze that row so it stays visible as you scroll.
- Format the Start time and Duration columns as time, not text, so they sort and (sometimes) add correctly.
- Shade your section header rows (walk-in, main show, breaks) so the day reads in blocks at a glance.
- Keep one row per cue. Don't cram two segments into a cell — you'll regret it when you reorder.
- Share view-only links with the crew so nobody edits the master copy by accident.
Now the honest catch. A spreadsheet doesn't really understand your show. It won't add up your timing for you. Cut a five-minute segment and every start time below it should shift — but in a sheet, you're either retyping clock times by hand or babysitting fragile formulas that break the moment you drag a row. And a spreadsheet can't follow the showcaller live. When the caller jumps to item 6, nobody else's screen moves. When you're running three minutes heavy, the sheet just sits there, cheerfully wrong.
That's fine for the planning phase. It stops being fine at standby on show day, when the room is full and you need everyone on the exact same line.
Copy this into your own sheet — or skip the formulas
You're welcome to lift the template above straight into Excel or Google Sheets and run with it. If you'd rather not babysit timing formulas, that's the gap showrun fills. Same familiar grid, but it actually does the work:
It does the timing math
Durations roll up into start times automatically. Set hard times and back-time to them. Cut a segment and the whole timeline recalculates — no formulas, no retyping.
Realtime read-along
Everyone sees the live run of show on their own screen. When you edit, the crew sees it instantly. No "which version are you looking at?"
Live calling, offline-safe
Call the show in standby / go mode with live schedule drift, so you always know if you're heavy or light — and it keeps working offline. showrun never fires your cues; a human always calls the show.
It runs right in your browser, your client logo sits on every page, and you can export a clean PDF for the folks who still want paper. It's a free public beta right now — no card, no catch.
The short version: use a spreadsheet to sketch your run of show. Use showrun when it's time to keep it on time. Start free and bring your sheet with you.
Run of show FAQ
Run of show vs rundown — what's the difference?
They overlap a lot. A run of show is the full plan for an event with timing, talent and department cues. A rundown is usually the broadcast-style version of the same thing: an ordered, timed list of segments the control room and showcaller work from. In practice people use the words interchangeably, and showrun treats your rundown as your live run of show. New to the role? Here's what a showcaller actually does.
What's the difference between a run of show and a cue sheet?
A run of show is the whole event end to end — every segment, who's on, and roughly when. A cue sheet is one department's detailed list of individual cues, like a lighting or audio cue list. The run of show is the master map; the cue sheets are the turn-by-turn directions for each department. On a small show, your run of show often is the cue sheet — those Audio, Video and Lighting columns above do the job.
How detailed should a run of show be?
Detailed enough that a stranger could run the show, but not so dense that nobody reads it live. Give every item a duration, name who's on, and call out the department actions that actually have to land — mic swaps, video rolls, lighting looks. Keep notes short and scannable. If a line wouldn't change what someone does in the room, it probably belongs in a brief, not the run of show.
Can I build a run of show in Excel or Google Sheets?
Yes, and the template above drops straight into either one. The catch is that a spreadsheet won't recalculate your timeline when you cut a segment, and it can't follow the showcaller live or read along with the crew. For planning, a spreadsheet is fine. For calling the show on the day, a purpose-built tool keeps everyone on the same line — that's exactly what showrun is for.
Free public beta
Keep your run of show on time
Copy the template, or skip the formulas entirely. showrun does the timing math, reads along with the crew, and follows the caller live — even offline.