There are 12 members on a board of directors. If they must elect a chairsperson, a secretary, and a treasure, how many different slates of candidates are possible?
The first candidate can be any one of the 12 members. For each of those . . . The second candidate can be any one of the remaining 11. For each of those . . . The third candidate can be any one of the remaining 10.
The total number of possible slates is (12 x 11 x 10) = 1,320 .