Get to Know the Instructors

NICE TO MEET YOU

I'm Terry Rubin

I'm a seasoned communication expert who has spent my career helping individuals perfect their message and presentation skills. 

 Since 2011, I've provided independent consulting to a range of individuals and companies looking to elevate their preparation for major presentations, interviews, and other public speaking engagements.

My experience includes nearly two decades as an award-winning producer with the PBS Newshour. As a journalist, I covered major stories across the globe including the war in Kosovo, Hurricane Katrina, and four Presidential elections. These experiences provided deep insight into what makes a good interview, how to be prepared for video appearances, and yielded essential strategies for successfully presenting in high-stakes environments. Throughout my career, I also worked with on-air talent to enhance their communication techniques.

 For 17 years, I also coached and directed a nationally ranked Speech and Debate program where my students competed in events judged on public speaking, poise, and presentation. Most importantly, they learned valuable skills that led to successful careers in business, law, academia, communications, and marketing. 

I'm a graduate of Indiana University’s College of Arts and Sciences with degrees in Political Science and Telecommunications. I lives in Denver with my wife, son, and daughter.

NICE TO MEET YOU

I'm Kurt MacDonald

I'm an award-winning teacher and experienced content creator.

My graduate degree in Behavioral Neuroscience provides unique insight into the psychological and physiological processes that underlie speaking, stress, and information transfer. I utilize my understanding of human attention, memory, and persuasion to design content that is engaging, effective, and moves audiences.

I also have a long history of public speaking, spanning 25 years of my academic and professional career. You can watch my TEDx talk on finding opportunity in chaos, here, and my Creative Mornings talk on the importance of context here. In addition to these ‘fun’ talks, I delivered the Most Outstanding Graduate address at the University of Colorado, Boulder, was a commencement speaker at Kent Denver School, was a mainstage presenter at Scholar Search Conference, was an invited speaker at the Summit Advocates for Gifted Education, and presented at IgniteSTEM Columbia.

I also co-founded and directed a nationally-recognized debate program, helping my students develop arguments, execute strategies, and deliver persuasive speeches across the country.

I currently live in Denver, Colorado with my wife, two daughters, and our adopted greyhound.

HI!

I'm Jamie Kimes

I've spent the majority of my adult life in roles that require translation. In all these roles -- whether it was teaching English overseas, being in diverse,  multi-cultural settings both personally and professionally, or being the interim between tech experts and non-technical audiences --  I've seen the frustration caused by language barriers and the connection that's nurtured through translation. 

I started working with public sector tech in 2018 and started my own company, Kimes & Associates, in 2019 in association with Glassman & Associates. Together, we represented private sector technology companies to public sector decision makers.  In that time, I watched great ideas be buried by the tech to non-tech language barrier. I saw projects that had been in flight get cut because of the tech to non-tech language barrier. I saw brilliant technologist with amazing foresight and vision leave public sector tech because no one could understand their vision. 

In 2023, I shut down Kimes & Associates and founded The Idea Garden (TIG). TIG's first focus was to find a way to bring tech translation into the world of public sector tech. 

I love imagination, ideas, and looking at old things in fresh ways. I love reading about math, physics, and self-development, and am trying to learn piano as an adult.