How would you describe what is programming to a non-programmer?

Answer 1

programming is magic and programmers are wizards.:-)

Answer 2

Describing programming to a non-programmer is quite easy.
Programming is the act or writing specific instructions to a computer telling it exactly what you want it to do for you.
(You might want to go on to say)The instructions that are written as codes come in different forms known as languages(if you want to create more awareness).
Also get a bit of information on how these languages work with the computer, so you can effectively explain better. :-). Goodluck coding and explaining.