Okay is one of those words that peppers the speech patterns of many people. Here is the scoop on okay.
If it comes at the beginning of a sentence, follow it with a period. It stands by itself and is not attached to anything around it.
...Okay. Did you see them...?
...Okay. Fine. Are you saying that...?
...Okay. We were not there when....
...All right. Okay. I don't think they....
If it comes at the end of a sentence, it takes a period/interrog in front of it. It is not like correct and right. It is not asking "Is it okay that he was there at 10:00?" A semicolon won't work.
...You had not entered into that agreement. Okay.
...We have established that, from your point of view, she was difficult. Okay.
If the intonation leads you to believe okay is asking a question of its own at the end of a sentence, follow it with an interrog. This is "You had to be there" punctuation. You have to hear the intonation.
...You are saying he broke it into pieces. Okay?
...The impression I have is that the dog seemed to be roaming free. Okay?
When okay comes in the middle of the sentence and is asking a valid question, surround it with a pair of dashes with an interrog after it.
...The question is whether she was -- okay? -- working diligently.
When okay is a throwaway similar to you know and like, surround it with commas.
...We were standing, okay, next to the, you know, hall door, okay, and were, like, intending to go in, okay, when we could.
Happy punctuating!
Margie