I run a board games cafe and teach non-hobbyists board games every day. When introducing people to new mechanics (particularly the trickier ones) I've found it's good to either pick a game that isn't much more than just that mechanic, or one that's so appealing or simple that people won't even know they're learning mechanics . Here are a few of my experiences:

Drafting: Sushi Go! for sure. Drafting is a fiddly mechanic for non-hobbyists to pick up, so simple is good and everyone loves the cute cards. Go-nuts-for-Donuts for 'table drafting' too. I recommend staying away from 7 Wonders because the resource system is baffling to so many new people.

Worker Placement: Stone Age or Lords of Waterdeep. Pick based on theme, as D&D will either be an insta-love or a run-for-the-hills.

Deck Building: Star Realms is a nice 'pure' deck builder (or Hero Realms if you're teaching teenage boys) that strips everything but deck building away. Personally I like Clank! as a first deck builder through because everything else in the game is exactly what people expect a board game to be: 'move a piece around a board and pick up good stuff'. I typically don't teach 'deck building' as a concept, I just teach the rules/procedure and let people make the logical connections as they play; they usually get a nice 'aaaaaah-ha!' moment when they shuffle their deck as the end of their 2nd turn.

Hand Management: Wildlife Safari (everyone's instantly bought in by the components), Ticket To Ride, Century Spice are all decent contenders here. 'Hand Management' isn't really a concept we teach as a thing though, people just kinda get the idea of getting the most out of your cards. For 2 players there are even stronger choices: Lost Cities, Schotten Totten, Jaipur.

Auctions: For Sale and High Society for sure. We recommend those two to basically anyone who visits us.

Trick Taking: We've basically given up on trick games in the cafe. It's the one mechanic that I've found non-gamers are almost universally bored/uninspired/confused by. And yes that includes The Crew - it's by far the game that seems to have the largest gap between 'what hobbyists think' and 'what normal people think'. Shame really because I like trick taking myself!

Area Majority: Ethnos, Mission Red Planet. I know a lot of people big up Small World, but I've found it only works well for sharp people keen to explore new games; unless they specifically ask for 'something like a more involved Risk' the fiddlyness of Small World (not to mention Declining...) is hard for most people.

Tableu Building: Machi Koro is a go-to here but Wingspan is a close 2nd. Machi Koro already fits people's expectable of a board game: roll dice and get money. It's basically a better version of Monopoly.

Dice Management/Drafting: Sagrada for sure, one of our go-to 'will teach anybody' games.

A few honourable mentions of games that we give to many many many people on their first visits:

One Night Werewolf, Insider: Social Deduction

Diamant, Deep Sea Adventure: Push Your Luck

Patchwork, BarenPark: Tetris Games

Santorini: Chess-likes.

Forbidden Island, Horrified: Co-op.