The Finer Points of Teaching Rules

In short:

1. Set up the board and components.
2. Distill the game down to a few sentences. (Less than a minute.)
3. Paint an overview for the whole game. (1 to 3 minutes.)
4. Expand the overview using details—the finer points.
5. Cover the exceptions, if any.
6. Teach basic strategies and offer "fair warning." (1 or 2 minutes.)



http://www.thegamesjournal.com/articles/TeachingRules.shtml