The Pinpoint cheat sheet (the camera test)

A Pinpoint is a one-sentence description of a behavior so specific that a stranger with a video camera could film exactly the thing you mean. That's the test. If a camera can't film it, it's not a Pinpoint yet — it's a label. The formula: action verb + object. What does the body actually DO? Not filmable (labels, guesses, attitudes): • "He's defiant." • "She has an attitude." • "He's being manipulative." • "She's testing me." Filmable (Pinpoints): • "When I say it's time to leave the park, he drops to the ground and goes limp." • "At the dinner table she pushes her plate away and says 'yuck' before tasting." • "After I say no to a second show, he screams and kicks the couch for about two minutes." Why it matters: you can't count "defiant," and you can't tell whether "defiant" got better. You CAN count drops-to-the-floor, and you'll know on Friday whether there were fewer of them than on Monday. Stuck? Ask yourself three questions: 1. What does the body do? (verbs, not adjectives) 2. Where and when does it happen? 3. What would I actually see on the video? Rewrite your worry as a Pinpoint, then take it to "What's Going On?" and describe the before and after. Nine times out of ten, the fix is hiding in the description.