Identify the main points that you need to discuss in order to develop your theme and achieve your objective. These will become your framework, your basic outline. How many main points should there be? Perhaps two are enough for a short discussion, and usually five are sufficient for even an hour-long discourse. The fewer the main points, the more likely your audience will remember them.

Once you have your theme and the main points in mind, organize your research material. Decide what directly relates to your main points. Select details that will add freshness to your presentation. When you choose scriptures to support the main points, note ideas that will help you to reason on those texts in a meaningful way. Put each item under the main point to which it belongs. If some of the information does not fit any of your main points, discard it​—even if it is very interesting—​or put it in a file for use on another occasion.

The sample on page 41 will give you an idea of how a brief outline might be arranged. Notice that each of the main points begins at the left margin and is written in capital letters. Under each main point are listed the thoughts that support it. Additional points that will be used to develop those thoughts are listed under them and indented a few spaces from the left margin. Examine this outline carefully. Notice that the two main points relate directly to the theme. Observe, too, that the subpoints are not simply interesting items. Rather, each one supports the main point under which it appears.