Tag points give you a framework for creating positive goals and opportunities for success. Instead of: “Hey, you forgot to close the door again!” A tag point could be made and an opportunity for success created. “The tag point is…close door”. The first step to a good tag point is to identify the goal. The goal is whatever you want the learner to do! For example:

• Serve a volleyball
• Use polite phone manners with clients
• Finish work
• Use correct fingering on the keyboard

Think of the goal as a puzzle. Each goal may have just a few tasks or it may have many.

The goal could be very broad or very narrow in scope.

It could be something that can be accomplished in one session or it may be something that takes years to accomplish.

Identify which piece of the puzzle requires additional focus. The tag point must be a single piece of the goal.

If you are teaching a brand new skill you might pick some aspect of the skill that the learner will be able to do easily and use that for your first tag point.

If you are teaching something that the learner can already do to some degree, then you could ask the learner to show you what they can do. Look for something that could be improved easily and create a tag point for that part. The first tag point should be something that the learner can already do, so that he has success right off the bat.