- turn on the autothrottles and flight director (the two little toggle switches) and press one of the CMD buttons (normally the centre one)
- dial in a target speed then use the SPD button to stick to it
- dial in a target altitude and use the FLCH button to get there
- dial in a target heading and press the middle of the knob under the heading window to follow it
It's better to set something up in the FMC and let the computers worry about how to do it, but that should get you started.
The other thing that normally tricks people is that you dial in the ILS frequency and course on the radio in the centre of the pedestal, not the nav radios.
Gary
The above post is in the public domain and is guaranteed by the manufacturer to contain no references to anything illegal or discussion of piracy, although this signature may contain traces of nuts.