chonas, to a "random" audience, when we describe Go (or chess, checkers, Warcraft, GTA, Minecraft,
Youtube, Facebook, nanotechnology, quantum mechanics, carpentry, martial arts, etc.),
the following features (criteria) of the presentation can be helpful:
- Presentation must be feasible impromptu. Any time, any place.
- which means zero Go equipment required: no board, no stones, no grid,
no computer, not even pencil & paper, no videos, no drawings, no other physical "props" whatsoever, etc. - all presentation, all visualization done verbally.
- Zero jargon. All the following terms are forbidden: (1)
stones, liberties, intersections, points, capture, atari, ko, eyes, false eyes, komi, ladder, illegal moves,
vital points, groups, snapback, throw-in, miai, etc. Sente and gote are out of the question.  - Presentation must be such that not only will the audience get a sense (general ideas) about the subject,
but that they in turn can convey it to the next audience (meme-like).
This is one reason that jargon in particular must be out.
This approach is nice because it means we can talk about Go
to any person at random at a coffee shop, bus stop, etc. at any time,
without any Go equipment.
Analogies are key. (2) Good for a few minutes' introduction to complete novices.
After that, it is up to the audience. If they want to see
the actual equipment and a game in action, then of course
it would be nice to have a set to continue the presentation.
The more you know about the audience (as you talk and get feedback from them),
the better you can tailor your presentation to that particular group.
Otherwise, there are enough stories about the history and cultures
of Go to easily fill an hour, especially if the audience is receptive
and has lots of questions.
Hint: if you can talk about Go in the above manner (zero equipment) for 3 hours,
then 1 hour is a piece of cake.
(1) Of course, later on, to discuss more, we naturally would need the terms.
But for the 5-minute introduction presentation with no equipment, zero jargon.
(2) For the novice introduction, it took me about 6 to 7 years to remove all the jargon;
2 years later, removed the grid itself (happened in an instance);
and within the past year, finally got rid of all equipment (also in an instance).
Like Go itself, you need to practice. Practice. Practice. Start talking about Go
to your friends, to strangers at the coffee shop. Zero equipment. Zero jargon.
You'll be amazed the colorful and exciting analogies you can come up with. Start now.
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