There are six main before-berachot to know. They are said in order when multiple apply to one meal, and therefore listed in that order. Some exceptions noted. The procedure which must be followed is to say the beracha with concentration, and then immediately, without doing anything in between, eat/drink even a small amount of the applicable food/drink (including swallowing it), and then when ready move on to the next beracha, and repeat. Each before-beracha begins the standard way בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְ‑יָ אֱ‑לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם - Baruch Atah Ado-nai Elo-heinu Melech Ha'Olam....
1 - There are many breads that HaMotzi is not said on. Kosher bread will always list whether it is HaMotzi, Mezonot or Shehakol. Some Sephardim will say HaMotzi on something that counts as Mezonit (see below), if they are eating a certain amount, and many will say it on Mezonot foods if they are sitting down to eat them formally. CYLOR.
2 - There are different customs about what counts as dessert, and there are some other customs about fruit and nuts etc; one should learn these with one's rabbi.