I think, whenever explaining new concepts, it's important to point out similarities to something else that the person may already know about.

So maybe, when explaining blockchains, we can point out the similarities to say, how a bank updates its books at the end of the day to ensure that every branch has the latest balances and transaction histories of people's accounts?

That also is somewhat more difficult to understand, but i think it's better than just using abstract terms that make it even more confusing.