David Finch has Asperger’s syndrome and struggled to identify with others socially. That is, until he started taking cues from the likes of Howard Stern and David Letterman.

Finch — who recently penned a book about his experience as an adult newly-diagnosed with Asperger’s — said he learned different things from each talk show host he observed.

Stern, for example, can keep a story going for 30 minutes or more on his radio show, continually peeking listeners’ interest by changing his tone. Even when interrupted, the shock jock uses humor to bring the conversation back to his story, Finch says.

Meanwhile, from Letterman, Finch learned to use facial expressions and other body language to get points across.

It took some practice, but Finch says he eventually learned to model the talk show hosts’ techniques for his own benefit.

“I always thought conversations were overrated. But now that I could actually do it, I thought it was really cool,” Finch told The New York Post. To read more click here.