I'd talk quickly about microbes being the life in the soil. They are the critters that create plant food out of organic fertilizers, which are made mostly from ground up grains nowadays. They also protect plants from disease with natural disease killing compounds.

Soil is a vital asset that must be managed; including organic matter, pH and balanced nutrient levels. Organic management is about nutrient cycles and not soluble fertilizers. Healthy soil provides for healthy plants.

Organic management involves diverse crop rotations, green manures, composts and other slow release nutrient amendments.

Certified organic must comply with minimum standards but organic management can be applied in your home garden.

Good luck with your talk.

Dan

Give them 25 minutes of lecture and 5 minutes for questions. And your email address. That way YOU decide what kind of information to give them. I would emphasize the importance of fostering a balanced environment without pesticides. Suggest some good field guides for insect ID (the good ones AND the bad ones).

You might want to spend a couple of minutes talking about the various meaning of 'organic', too. I believe that for most gardeners, it has more to do with no highly toxic pesticides than anything else. Their horizons need to be broadened.

As a hand-out, you may want to compile a list of good books and websites.

Keep your message delivery light and friendly. Many people are "preachy" when they talk about organic gardening. It is a method, not a religion! Stress that it is friendly not only to the earth, but to the pocketbook, and that organic gardening is really much simpler, even for a novice, than many other methods.
You'll be a big hit, and how great it is that you have a group that is interested in learning about organic gardening.

Welcome to GardenWeb. I just visited your home page. Suggest that others do the same and settle in for an interesting read.

What will you have in the way of visual aides? Soil samples? Anything 'hands-on' for participatns to take home? I agree with marlingardener ... light and optimistic ... stress the enjoyment and stay away from the 'hair-shirt' true believer indoctrination. First-timers will be attracted and experienced gardeners will understand that the mixed audience requires a quick overview.

It's a pretty casual atmosphere (a local chapter of Green Drinks International) that doesn't usually have visual aids or handouts. Fortunately, everyone in the group is an eager learner.

Thanks everyone who has given advice so far, I'm definitely enjoying the input and plan to use a lot of it. I have until March to develop my presentation and I'd like to do well enough to convert new people to OG. :)

@Nandina - Thanks for checking out my page! I'm glad you liked it. :)

I do this a lot and you'll want to get Q&A afterward. Make a handout with your URL if you are serious about conveying information - you can do a front-back B/W Kinko's 1-pager for not much. The Green Drinks folks will be intelligent for the most part and if they are anything like my city, educated. So short and to the point, boom, boom, boom and hit the high points and give them further information. And no preaching! No hippy-dippy stuff. Just how to get started and get rid of chemicals.

Dan

As rhizo hints, guide your newbies (and veterans) toward being responsible "insect stewards".

No wholesale murder of all the insects in the garden.

More practically, show a few slides or pictures of insects that may look alike but one is a beneficial while the other is one you want to drive away. And print out a couple of articles describing how some plants come to their own self-defense against insects and diseases!

If gardening doesn't lead one into an interest in entymology, one hasn't arrived yet!

After further thought I pulled out my notes from my organic courses. A little summary might aid you.

Organic management is about minimal disruption of all life forms. Organic management employs biodiversity to enable a natural system of checks and balances. Organic management emphasis is on soil fertility, nutrient cycles and biologically active soil.

With fewer purchased inputs the cost of production goes down compared to conventional. There is a little more effort required but there is greater satisfaction.

Organic puts the joy back in farming or gardening. Your plants do better in wet or drought when grown in healthy soil.

That about sums it up. Twenty to thirty minutes is not a long time for the subject. As a Toastmaster I am currently presenting 10 5-7 minute speeches on organic. I open with an introduction to organic. Then the fun starts in summarizing Soil, Soil Management, Crop Rotation, Weed Management, Pest & Disease Management, Soil Tests, The Plan, Soil Ammmendments and finally something for Our Future Gardeners/Farmers. It is all about nature's methods. My audience appreciates the logic and symplicity offered in the overview.

I do use PowerPoint for visual emphasis. Good luck.

Dan would you consider videoing your speeches and posting to YouTube? You could be a star!

Perhaps, discussing the natural relationships involved, between soils and plants. How we can expand on those relationships, as gardeners, to provide every advantage for both soil and plant.
The biggest problem may be, where to stop. :)

@Organic Dan, what is a Toastmaster? You got me curious...
Also, thanks for the summary of your talk. I really like your statements about organic management.

@Dan Staley, Borderbarb, & Rhizo - I think I'll take your advice and do a handout, though normally people don't for Green Drinks. I think half of getting started gardening is finding out what websites and books will help long term.

@almost everyone else: insects, check. mycorrhizae, check, other organisms, check... ;) I love all these things, too!

@Maplerbirch, I definitely think "editing" is what's gonna get me!

Not 1500 words of text. Bullet the most important topics and expand on them below with a few words and 2-3 pertinent links. No pictures, but simple clip art reproducible in B/W at Kinko's/OfficeDepot might be OK to make it interesting. Frame your argument in positive words only, active voice, present tense where possible. You are not the hippy-dippy weatherman, you are the purveyor of good information.

Dan

Hillbilly,
Toastmasters is an international network of clubs fostering improvement in communication and leadership. One learns by doing, whether speaking or providing encouragement for a peer. The link is below.

It can change a life and career. I have been with them for 17 years.

Here is a link that might be useful: Toastmasters International

hillbilly: I take it that "how to" are the operative words in your question, rather than "why". I faced a similar problem last month when writing a newsletter article that I titled "You Only Need to Know Three Simple Things to Start Growing Vegetables Organically". The three things were: grow vegetables in narrow beds and never step on your beds -- ever; maintain a mulch of chopped leaves; and rotate your crops. The idea was that these things are memorable, especially when you have done them once, and action related. Although I provided the reasons for these things, which are many, they aren't memorable for newcomers and wouldn't fit into 30 minutes; in my pedagogy they come later. I'd send you the article if I knew how to. Best luck, regards, Peter.

That Toastmasters group is really interesting, I'm glad you made me aware of it!

@Peter - Yes, the "how to" is key. I like your 3 things, they definitely sound easy to remember for beginner gardeners.