Feature
Jon Yeo (1990): From quiet kid to public speaking guru Kelly Southworth Editor
When you think of the great speakers of the world, the assumption is that they are outgoing, self-confident, social and unreserved – in Jon Yeo’s case, as a self-described shy introvert, this could not be further from the truth. While a student at Carey, Jon was certainly the quiet type. ‘I don’t think many people would have noticed me at school terribly much,’ he commented. Now, Jon regularly presents to hundreds of people at a time about public speaking, effective communication and how to engage audiences. Jon is also curator and licensee of the first independently run TED program in Australia: TEDxMelbourne. Jon has always been fascinated by technology. He was Captain of the Computer Club at Carey and was drawn to anything analytical, practical and process-driven. It was a logical transition once he graduated in 1990 for him to study mathematical computing and economics in university. ‘It was a bit by accident,’ Jon said about this degree. ‘It was the only course I could do where I would have access to a computer.’ While he was at university, Jon found his voice and inadvertently began to develop his skills as a communicator through working for a university radio station. He thrived on this platform when conducting one-on-one interviews and talking at length about the things he was passionate about. While studying, Jon’s interest in technology led him to become aware of the complications that might be caused 8 | Torch
by the Y2K bug, which could have had major implications for banking systems, transportation, power plants and any other industry which relied heavily on computer technologies and date-based automation. Jon was working for a law firm in technical support at the time, and as an early adopter of the process, he helped ensure all software and hardware were compliant for a new millennium. ‘When I left the law firm in 1995, Australia was largely finished and prepared for Y2K,’ Jon explained. ‘But by 1997, when I was working in Europe, most of the world hadn’t even started. In London, some trading banks didn‘t start until June in 1999, wanting to turn over tens of thousands of machines in six months. Because I knew it all back to front, I was in high demand.’
‘Jon then found TED. It was here that he finally felt that he had found his tribe – a group of open-minded, forward-thinking people who were also passionate about innovation and communication.’
