Asymmetric Encryption - How is the Public Key Being Shared? I've been reading up on the relationship between private keys and public keys (as well as hashing), and I watched a few videos, but I am still a bit confused. 

I don't have a programming background, and I want to be able to explain these things to an "everyday person". 

What I found is that before a message is "encrypted" with a "public key" that key FIRST must be shared with the receiver.

How is the public key being shared? 

Thanks for your help.
The key is shared via email, via scp/rsync/ssh-copy-id (remote copy), or by editing the settings of your account on a website. If you look in a web application that supports PKI, there will be an option under settings where you can upload your public key. Running an agent on your trusted OS machine (which has your private key) allows automatic verification via custom client software. It will understand you have an agent, then verify your local private key against the server's known public key.

The metaphor used is that of an empty box. You give a friend a padlock, but you keep the key. They put valuables in the box, and close the padlock you gave them on the box.  Now only you can open the box and get the valuables. The public key is the padlock. The private key is the key. Imagine that anyone can have the same padlock all over the world, but only you can open whatever they send you.