Judging dance competitions demands a unique blend of skills, from articulating useful corrections on the fly to staying focused for hours at a time. With just a few minutes to see and score each routine, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by everything you may want to say—or, worse, to have nothing to say at all. Here’s how to stay organized, alert, and constructive during long judging days.

Judges’ critiques sometimes sting, but they can also be super-useful. Here, three competition veterans give their best advice for turning judges’ critiques into constructive feedback.