So, you are thinking about writing a review to give a fellow judge the gift of feedback. That’s great! Whether you just worked your second event of the year or your twentieth, writing a review is a great way to wrap things up and get ready for whatever’s next. Here are a couple tips to consider as you’re drafting your next submission.
1 – It Doesn’t Have to be a Novel
I occasionally bump into judges who say they’d like to write more reviews, but don’t have the time. While writing a good review can take some time, it’s not a requirement. A good review doesn’t need to dwarf “Moby Dick,” and it doesn’t even need to be multiple paragraphs. Just a few sentences can be helpful for the recipient.
This could look something like: “You did a great job with Thing A, Thing B, and Thing C. You mentioned not being happy with how Thing D went, and I agree it is an area for improvement.”
That’s going to be helpful for the other judge, but is short enough you could write it as your plane home is boarding.
2 – Specificity is Key
The more specific your notes, the better they’ll help the recipient. Consider two examples:
A – You’re the best judge I know – I’m always happy to see we’re working together at an event. I learn something every time we work together. Thanks for all you do.
B – You’re a great head judge because you are always well prepared and are never stumped by a policy question. Thanks for all your mentorship.
Which of these would you rather receive?
A is longer and has more compliments which feel good in the moment, but B is going to help the recipient more in the long run, thanks to the specifics it touches on. The first example doesn’t really give the recipient anything to measure themselves by. They can’t go back and reread it sometime later to see how it measures up to their current progress.
With B, we see several specific things that this judge is good at. B tells us the recipient is well prepared, good at policy, and a good mentor. Perhaps the recipient has been working on some of these things recently; this review would mean a lot to them by showing their efforts were being noticed. Just a few extra details make B the better note, even though it’s shorter.
3 – Talk First, Then Write
Whenever possible, it’s a good idea to talk over the event with the recipient first, then summarize the conversation in the review afterward. If there isn’t time to chat in the moment, reaching out on some online platform works almost as well.
This serves several purposes. For one, it lets the recipient know the review is coming. Particularly if you don’t have a close relationship with the recipient or the review has some harsh truths in it, the recipient might not want to be blindsided to see the review in their inbox. A second upside is it can let the recipient give potentially important context. For example, perhaps your head judge didn’t learn they were going to be on the event until a few days before — it wouldn’t make much sense to give them some notes on their pre-event communication.
4 – Remember the Goal
The goal of a review is to help the recipient become a better judge. The writer can learn something by focusing on the event and by thinking things over afterward, but the main beneficiary will be the recipient. It shouldn’t be about just checking boxes so you can get promoted to the next level, and it shouldn’t be about scoring points by dunking on someone. A review is a gift, meant to help the recipient live up to their potential.
Giving a bunch of “you’re so great”s is nice, but there are more productive avenues for that. That can be a quick DM, or if they truly went above-and-beyond, remember that Examplar is there for you.
Once you’ve finished submitting that review, you can remind yourself of the details of the 2026 Review Contest. Tell a friend and remind your fellow judges – there’s swag to be won for both regions and individuals.
