“Today I will discuss two reasons  why the Navy of the  future  will  need ships.” 1st Main Point a force of 450 active and reserve –We  have  the  responsibility  to retain  the  military  strength necessary for guaranteeing our nation’s  security. 2nd Main Point –We  must  help  solve  the  domestic financial   problem   by   main- taining   only   those   forces essential  to  our  national  security goals. THE “HOW” APPROACH.—  Your  purpose  is  to explain how something works, is to be done, can be avoided, improves a situation, and so forth. To do this, state in your limited objective what your main points concern and how they will accomplish something. Then state each main point in a simple, declarative sentence that  will  specifically  explain  the  “how,”  as  in  the following   example: “Today I will discuss  how NATO  stopped  Com- munist  aggression  in  the  North  Atlantic  area.” 1st  Main  Point  –Since  its  formation,  not  one square  foot  of  NATO  territory fell  to  communism. 2nd   Main   Point   –The   member   nations,   by heritage,  by  economic  necessity, by  common  interests  and principles, have formed a closely knit,  interdependent  union  for mutual  defense. THE “HOW TO” APPROACH.— Your purpose is to  tell  your  audience  actually  how to  do  something.  If you do not have time to explain a complete process, then tell  as  much  of  the  “how  to”  as  time  permits.  (For example,  talk  only  of  the  first  step  of  a  five-step process.)  Phrase  your  limited  objective  so  that  you  state what it is you want your audience to know how to do. Your  main  points  will  be  statements  of  the  steps involved  such  as  in  the  following  example: “Let us discuss the first two steps in obtaining  (how to obtain) an absentee ballot.” 1st Main Point  –The first step in obtaining an absentee  ballot  is  to  see  your voting  officer. 2nd Main Point –The second step in obtaining an absentee ballot is to write to your election  district  for  an  appli- cation  form. PHRASING You probably noted a distinct pattern in the phrasing of the main points. Good speakers go to great lengths to phrase their main points in such a way that the meaning will be clear and easily remembered by the audience. To achieve  this  result,  you  should  keep  in  mind  the following  three  characteristics  of  good  phrasing: l  Conciseness .  Motivation l Parallelism Conciseness State your points as briefly as possible without sacrificing meaning. A simple declarative sentence is better  than  a  complex  one.  Therefore,  “Marksmanship develops your reflex instinct” is better than “One of the ways   through   which   your   marksmanship   can   be improved is the use of correct techniques to better reflex your instincts.” Motivation Whenever  possible,  word  your  main  points  to appeal to the interests and desires of the audience. True, in the introduction, you may include an entire step devoted to motivating the audience to listen, but the more personal the entire talk, the more interesting it will be, The more the words “you” and “your” can be used, the more personal the main point will be. Parallelism Try to use the same sentence structure and similar phrasing  for  each  of  your  main  points.  Wherever possible,  start  each  main  point  with  the  same  phrase. Word a series of main points like this: 1. 2. 3. Nuclear-powered ships we more flexible than conventional  ones. Nuclear-powered ships have a longer cruising range  than  conventional  ones. Nuclear-powered ships require less engineering personnel than conventional ones. 6-11