Where is the student now? Where do you want him to be? Given the sub-skill you selected within your task analysis (your starting point for instruction), how can you shape this behavior into a practical skill for the future?
Because there are so many skills in entering a conversation, make sure that you practice and shape each sub-skill to a level of fluency before adding more complex skills.
What environmental features and visual supports will you use to help the student rehearse the expected behavior or skill?
If the student currently is preparing for new extracurricular activities, volunteer positions, non-paid work opportunities, or even college visits, such visual supports as scripts, graphic organizers, social narratives, and video models may support preparation efforts.
What type of prompting might you need to provide in the initial learning phase?
At first, does the student need full modeling prompts to observe and then imitate all of the key steps to entering conversations? In the early phase, perhaps the student also needs verbal prompts to alert him to key signs that would indicate whether it is appropriate to join an ongoing conversation.
What is your plan for systematically and quickly fading out your prompting? How do you time and fade the prompt to support the student in initiating this social communication skill?
How quickly can the student learn the basic skills and be independent in familiar situations? How can you shift your prompts (e.g. modeling prompts, verbal prompts, gestural prompts) to less obtrusive scripts and reminder cards that will make this student feel confident and independent in performing the skill?
Can the student discriminate between the more versus less appropriate entry in a given role-play scenario? Are you arranging opportunities for the student to make such discriminations and to label when the instructor or someone else enters a conversation inappropriately?
Are you arranging frequent practice opportunities to build fluency through repetition?
What steps do you need to take to ensure that everyone targeting that skill applies the same level of prompting and fades it out at the same rate to support initiation by the student?