I think analogies work well when trying to make a more complicated topic simple, but not so much when the concept is simple to begin with. Then the analogy is in danger of being more complicated than the concept itself. I agree with Stu, that Don's charts are probably the best thing to have on hand for your purpose. BTW, Don's description for the use of the traveler and his analogy to a screen door works well for me. That's because it is a visual reference, which is what I need. But his references to sheets and shifting gears (or stepping on the gas) doesn't work for me, probably because it is more conceptual than visual.
I think that analogies work only when the audience can relate to it and it is difficult for "one size fits all" references. For instance, even though I know what a carburetor is (sort of) and I know that a 4-barrel is what gearheads usually like for obvious reasons, I wouldn't recognize a 4-barrel from just about any other carburetor that came off my dad's station wagon, I certainly don't visualize gasoline flowing through the carburetor, and I wouldn't have the foggiest idea how to relate it to wind. That's because I respond to visual references much better than conceptual references. That's the problem, people relate in so many different ways.
