Better Humans Podcast

How To Dramatically Improve Your Public Speaking Skills — With Jason Shen 🎧

Stories are powerful. Learn to tell yours with clarity and confidence.

“I think one of the things you have to remember as a public speaker is that your first job actually is entertainment. You’ve been hired to entertain people first and foremost — and then inform them, persuade them, (blah, blah, blah) afterward.”

Jason Shen didn’t intend to become a seasoned public speaker. He studied biology, competed in gymnastics, and eventually moved into tech.

But the ability to speak well in public is a powerful skill. Curiosity led Jason to take every opportunity to learn and practice what it takes to captivate an audience.

In this episode, Matt East speaks with Jason about memorizing at the “happy birthday” level, his experience with TED and Toastmasters, and the power of stories.

Selected Highlights From the Interview

Matt: And just to brag on you for a second, ‘cause I know you won’t bring this up yourself, but while you were there, you were the captain of the 2009 men’s gymnastics NCAA championship team. Right?

Jason: Yes. I was one of several captains, and it was a real pleasure and honor to help the team win an NCAA title. It was our first title in 14 years, and, you know, my retirement year, as it were. So yeah, that was something I’m really proud of.

Matt: So with the TED residency, you kind of had a peek behind the — I don’t know what you’d call it — a curtain, I guess. Did anything else really surprise you about the production of the talks?

Jason: What I learned from the TED residency is that the idea really matters. They really hone in on…