What would you tell someone who doesn't watch anime?

In two weeks, I have an hour to teach a room full of people the basics of anime and anime conventions. I've got most of my presentation laid out already but I'm curious if I've missed anything and I want to know what others think. If you had an hour to explain anime to someone who had no idea what it was, what would you tell them about?

A hurdle and mindset you might have to break is the association of anime with campy kids cartoons. You need to explain that anime can encompass adult themes and every aspect of human emotion.

I remember doing something similar in a public speaking class. All I recall is juxtaposing 15 seconds of a Tom & Jerry cartoon to a similar length clip of the shootout scene in the 1st episode of Cowboy Bebop. I had to record the two clips back to back on VHS. Ermahgerd, my age just slapped me in the face ;_;

bring up the point that there are many different genre of anime, so there's probably a type for anyone. P: Yes and anime ≠ kids cartoons; even though there are plenty of anime geared towards children? (Precure for example~)

I'm defining anime in two ways: by origin (Japan) and by art style, since many people consider shows like Avatar and RWBY to be anime when they're made in America due to their art style, yet shows that look completely different (like Panty and Stocking or Crayon Shin-chan) are still anime though they look like cartoons. The whole "range of emotions" thing will be explained alongside with Shoujo/Shounen/Josei/Seinen/other genres. I want to make sure they know there's more to anime than kiddie shows and cartoon porn, since if I make it sound like anime is geared towards a more mature crowd they could get the wrong idea. VHS? What's that? (Joking, joking. Though I've heard that asked before and it almost made me cry.) I've got samples (from the internet!) prepared of the original Powerpuff Girls and of Powerpuff Girls Z to demonstrate the artistic differences of anime and US cartoons aimed towards the same age group. Thanks for the input everyone, keep it coming!

you could try explaining the complexities ofcertain anime narratives. even anime like Naruto or one piece, that are arguably geared at the younger crowd, hint at different mysteries that aren't fully revealed til the end. or anime like baccano that took the pulp fiction approach with how they showed those episodes. I personally enjoy a good story, so if they're the same, they should give anime a try

One thing you can do is compare anime to cartoons in terms of story and character design (majority of anime will be more accurate in body structure compared to the majority of western cartoons. Not all, but most. Compare Powerpuff Girls to Powerpuff Girls Z for example) The broad age spread of anime is a good topic too, seeing how most cartoons are limited to children and young teen in contrast to categories in anime. You can also try to interpret real life situations given through anime compared to the other, as well as list elements borrowed from one another. If I find my final on kinda the same thing I can list more things later

Argh! I wrote a super long comment but I did something wrong submitting it and it doesn't appear now >.< I will write it again! I would make a clear distinction between "cartoons" and anime. People often tell me that anime are for children and I am too old to watch them. However, there is so much in some anime that wouldn't be appropriate for a young audience. Not violence, and ecchi, but deep thoughts and reasoning, which children would not understand. Shinsekai Yori is my favorite example to explain how anime are not just for children: for the first four episodes or so, it looks kind of silly/boring/something that a kid would watch; after that it gets really complicated and dense, I had to watch it three times to get the meaning of everything fully, I doubt any child could watch it and understand it. Also, anime give a very good insight in Japanese culture. I wrote my high school thesis on Japanese culture drawn from anime, I would send it to you, but it is in Italian... ^.^