[Libby K]

Sounds like you're doing it right, really -

Nothing shows off the magnitude of FIRST like being there.

My go-to, if you can't drag someone to competition, is just to have a video or two ready on your phone. (Thank goodness for the 21st century!) I use the Morgan Freeman one.

How I do the 'qualifications' part:
"Well, for the first day of competition, the teams are randomly set up on alliances - one match you could be with the school down the road, and then you could be against them! By matching them up against each other in different ways, they're able to rank who's the best performing robot out of the 40-60 robots there could be at the regionals."

Alliance selection:
"After the robots are all ranked, the top 8 get to pick teams that they want to play with through the whole of the elimination rounds - no more randoms! It's really important for the teams to scout out who's the best match for them so they know how to form the best alliance."

(I usually don't bother with the serpentine - if you're doing a high-level explanation to someone brand new, they'll tune out on the details.)

"Then, there are double-elimination rounds until we figure out which alliance at the regional is best. There are other awards, too, for things like community outreach and spreading the word of FIRST - which are even more important than the robot! FIRST, after all, is about changing culture."

Keep in mind I've had probably 15 years of practice explaining FIRST to people - and I've learned that if you go too far into the little details of competition, people who don't know it get bored or confused.

Keep it high level, keep it punchy, keep it fun.
Sometimes the details- for example, the ranking system- aren't exactly represented well, but they can figure that out when they become a mentor or a volunteer.

If you'd like to practice your speech on me, or continue bouncing ideas, send me a PM or find me at Champs.