What a run of show template is
A run of show (sometimes called a show flow) is the minute-by-minute document a live event runs on: every segment, when it starts, how long it takes, who's responsible, and what cues the crew needs to hit. A template is just a starting structure for that document, the columns and row layout, so you're not building one from a blank sheet every time you have a new event.
For a deeper breakdown of why each column exists and where these documents typically break, see Run of Show Template: The Columns That Actually Matter. This page is the copyable asset itself: a full template with a realistic example already filled in, ready to drop into Google Sheets or Excel.
Why start from a template instead of a blank sheet
A blank spreadsheet doesn't tell you what you're forgetting. A template built from real show days already has the columns that catch the usual gaps, no owner column means nobody's responsible for a row, no notes column means the AV cue lives in someone's head instead of the document. Starting from a filled-in example is faster than starting from headers alone, too, you can see how a real row should read instead of guessing at the format.
The free run of show template
Here's a fully populated example: a half-day corporate product launch keynote, from doors to hard out. Select the table and paste it into Google Sheets or Excel, then swap in your own segments, times, and names.
| Start | Dur | Segment | Presenter | Audio | Visuals | Lighting | Owner | Notes / Cue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:30 AM | 0:20 | Doors / AV check | Pre-show playlist | Sponsor loop | House 100% | Front of house | Badge scan at door | |
| 8:50 AM | 0:10 | Welcome + safety | Host (Maria) | Handheld mic 1 | Title slide | House to 50% | Stage manager | Cold open, no video |
| 9:00 AM | 0:15 | CEO keynote intro | CEO (David Osei) | Lav + confidence monitor | Keynote deck, slide 1 | Stage wash + podium spot | AV lead | Hard in, do not hold |
| 9:15 AM | 0:35 | Product reveal | CEO + product lead | 2x lav | Hero video + live demo feed | Spot + product light box cue | AV lead | Video call cue 9:32, demo laptop HDMI 2 |
| 9:50 AM | 0:10 | Changeover to panel | Mic check x4 | Panel title card | House to 70% | Stage crew | Reset chairs, 4 lavs live | |
| 10:00 AM | 0:30 | Customer panel | Moderator + 3 guests | 4x lav | Panel lower thirds | Stage wash | AV lead | Moderator has timer card |
| 10:30 AM | 0:20 | Networking break | Ambient playlist | Sponsor loop | House 100% | Front of house | Buffer block, absorb overrun here | |
| 10:50 AM | 0:25 | Partner spotlight | Partner rep | Handheld mic | Partner deck | Stage wash | AV lead | Confirm partner clicker before doors |
| 11:15 AM | 0:10 | Closing + CTA | CEO | Lav mic | Closing slide + QR code | Full stage wash | Host | Exit music cue, QR up 2 min |
| 11:25 AM | 0:05 | Hard out | All | All | Room clear by 11:30 (next booking) |
Two rows carry more weight than they look like: the networking break at 10:30 is deliberate slack the rest of the day borrows from if something upstream runs long, and the hard out at 11:25 isn't a segment at all, it's the fixed constraint everything above is built backward from.
How to fill in each column
- Start— when the segment is scheduled to begin. Treat it as a computed value, ideally a formula that adds the previous row's start time and duration, rather than something you hand-type for every row.
- Dur — how long the segment should take. This is the number you actually edit during prep; start times should follow from it.
- Segment— what's happening, plain language: “Product reveal,” “Customer panel,” “Changeover.”
- Presenter— who's on stage or mic for this segment. Leave it blank for crew-only rows like changeovers or the hard out.
- Audio — mic setup: handheld, lav count, playback cues. This is the row the AV desk reads first.
- Visuals— what's on screen: slide number, video file, lower thirds, demo feed.
- Lighting — house level and any stage look changes. Fine to leave blank for segments where nothing changes.
- Owner— who's responsible for this row happening on time. A row without an owner is nobody's job until it's already late.
- Notes / Cue— anything the crew needs mid-segment that doesn't fit elsewhere: a hard-in warning, a video call time, a reminder to confirm gear before doors.
Smaller events can collapse Audio, Visuals, and Lighting into one Notes column, that's the version in the columns guide. Split them out once a show has enough moving AV parts that one notes cell gets crowded.
The template works until the show runs long
Paste this into Google Sheets or Excel and it works exactly as well as any static document works: right up until the show goes live and something slips. Say the product reveal above runs 10 minutes over instead of 35. Every start time after it, changeover, the panel, the break, the partner spotlight, closing, hard out, is now wrong, and nothing in the sheet knows that yet. Someone has to notice, retype six rows of start times by hand, and get the new times in front of everyone who's reading the old ones, live, while also doing the rest of their job.
That's the gap between a template and actually running a show: a template is a document you fill out before the event, running a show live means the schedule keeps working while it's happening. What to actually do about a slip, cut a segment, eat into the buffer, push the hard out, is a show-calling decision, not a spreadsheet problem; How to call a show covers those calls. Runsheet is where the retyping part disappears: start times compute from durations, so one edit reflows every row after it, and anyone on a synced screen sees the new times immediately instead of hearing about the delay secondhand.
FAQ
- Is there a free run of show template?
- Yes. The table on this page is a full run of show template with a realistic filled-in example, not just blank column headers, select it and paste straight into Google Sheets or Excel. It's free to use, no signup required.
- What columns should a run of show have?
- At minimum: start time, duration, segment name, who's presenting or responsible, and a notes/cue column for AV or tech instructions. Larger productions split notes into separate audio, visuals, and lighting columns, as in the template below. See the full column breakdown in the run of show template guide for why each one matters.
- Can I use a Google Sheet for a run of show?
- Yes, a Google Sheet is a perfectly normal way to build one, that's exactly what the template on this page is for. Paste it in, add a formula so start times calculate from durations, and share the sheet link with your crew. The limitation shows up on show day: once the show is live and a segment runs long, someone has to manually retype every start time after it, and everyone needs to be refreshing the same tab to see the update.
- What's the difference between a run of show and a call sheet?
- A call sheet is a pre-production logistics document: who needs to be where and when before the event, contact numbers, locations, parking. A run of show is the minute-by-minute schedule for the event itself, once it's live, every segment, its timing, and the cues that trigger the next one. Productions typically use both: a call sheet gets people in the building, a run of show runs the actual show.
- How do I share a run of show with my crew?
- The simplest version: a shared Google Sheet or Excel file with view access for everyone who needs it. That works fine until the schedule changes live, at which point whoever's editing has to shout the new times across the room or drop them in a group chat, and everyone else has to notice. A hosted run of show tool solves this by giving each role its own synced screen that updates the moment a time changes, no re-sharing required.
Build the rundown. Run the show. Every screen in sync.
Runsheet is the hosted place to build a run of show and then run it live, no setup, share links for control, crew, and stage screens. Free for 1 rundown, 3 connected screens.
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