Keynote speaking
Give your audience a better way to think, decide and disagree
Dr Michelle Joosse delivers thought-provoking keynotes on Digital Beliefs, helping leaders recognise hidden influences on trust, judgement and decision-making.
Your audience is making decisions in a world of constant information, competing claims and increasingly different versions of reality.
Michelle gives them a way to examine what sits between the information they receive and the conclusions they reach — their assumptions, identity, experiences, trusted voices and digital environment.
The result is a keynote that does more than inform.
It gives people questions they can use long after the event to challenge assumptions, improve judgement and have more constructive conversations when people see things differently.
Dr Michelle Joosse
A researcher who has also run the business
Michelle brings more than 30 years of business and leadership experience to a subject every organisation depends on: how people think, what they trust and how they make decisions.
She has held CEO, COO and CFO responsibilities across finance, technology, people and culture, governance and organisational transformation, alongside Non-Executive roles with community organisations. Her career spans the family small business, ASX-listed companies, multinationals and the not-for-profit social sector. She has experienced the full roller coaster of business.
This breadth of experience gives her a grounded understanding of the pressures leaders face, the complexity of the decisions they make and the human factors that influence outcomes — experience that sits at the heart of her work on stage. She does not tell audiences what to think. She helps them become more aware of how they think.
Her research began with a question she couldn't leave alone: why do intelligent people reach completely different conclusions from the same information? Then it turned personal — the biases she was examining in others were shaping her own thinking. More about Michelle
- 30+ years
- Business & executive leadership
- PhD
- Philosophy
- FCPA · GAICD
- CPA Australia · AICD
- 2025
- Excellence in Innovation Award
Signature keynote
Digital Beliefs: Are you thinking for yourself?
How can two intelligent people look at the same information and come away with completely different conclusions?
We live in a world overflowing with information, yet making sound decisions has never been more challenging.
We trust some sources without question, dismiss others too quickly and can become so certain of what we believe that we stop questioning whether we have it right.
In this keynote, Dr Michelle Joosse draws on her research and the personal journey behind Digital Beliefs to explore how our thinking, identity, digital environments and trust shape what we believe — and the decisions we make.
Michelle shares one of the most important discoveries from her work:
None of us is immune.
Even when we value evidence and consider ourselves rational thinkers, our assumptions, emotions and desire to trust familiar voices can influence how we interpret information.
The keynote challenges audiences to look beyond the information in front of them and examine the lens through which they see it.
Tell us about your eventWhy does Digital Beliefs matter now?
More information does not automatically mean better decisions
We have more information than ever before, yet knowing what to trust can feel harder than ever.
Algorithms shape what we see. Social media connects us with people who think like us. AI can create convincing information instantly.
The digital age did not create our desire for certainty or belonging.
It amplified them.
That means intelligent, thoughtful people can see the same information and reach very different conclusions — because all of us are influenced by how we think, who we are and the information environments surrounding us.
What will your audience take away?
Better decisions begin with greater awareness
Michelle's goal is not to tell people what to think.
It is to help them become more aware of how they think, what influences their beliefs and how those beliefs shape their decisions and relationships.
This is not about becoming sceptical of everything or endlessly questioning every decision. It is about developing the awareness to recognise when we need to pause, when we need more evidence and when we may be holding onto a belief because changing it feels uncomfortable.
Audiences will discover how to
- Recognise the hidden influences shaping their beliefs and decisions.
- Question information and evaluate evidence before accepting or sharing it.
- Stay open to different perspectives without feeling their identity or judgement is under attack.
- Build more thoughtful conversations and stronger relationships through trust.
- Make more conscious decisions in a world where information, technology and human behaviour increasingly intersect.
Who would benefit from this keynote?
Wherever people make decisions, beliefs matter
Business leaders and executive teams
Strengthen decision-making, challenge assumptions and create cultures where people can question, learn and adapt.
Conferences and professional associations
Spark meaningful conversations about human behaviour, digital information, trust and decision-making.
Educators and schools
Encourage critical thinking, curiosity and more considered engagement with information.
Community groups and organisations
Build understanding across different perspectives and explore how trust shapes relationships.
Parents and parent groups
Navigate the digital information landscape, differing beliefs and the challenge of helping young people develop more thoughtful approaches to information.
Because Digital Beliefs is not simply a workplace issue.
It is a human issue that touches every part of our lives.
Questions event planners ask
Dr Michelle Joosse speaks about Digital Beliefs, trust, decision-making and how our thinking, identity, experiences and digital environments influence what we believe and how we judge information.
The keynote explores why intelligent people can encounter the same information and reach different conclusions — and what that reveals about belief, trust and human judgement.
Audiences learn to recognise hidden influences on their own thinking, evaluate information more thoughtfully, challenge assumptions and make more conscious decisions.
Misinformation is part of the subject, but Michelle's work goes deeper. It examines the conditions that allow information to feel credible and why people can interpret the same information very differently.
Yes. Michelle's executive experience allows her to connect the research to leadership, decision-making, assumptions, workplace relationships and trust.
The keynote is also relevant for professional associations, conferences, educators, schools, community organisations and parent groups because the underlying subject is human: how we form beliefs, decide what to trust and respond when other people see things differently.
Event brief
Give your audience a conversation that continues after the event
Better decisions don't come from having more information alone. They begin when we become more aware of how we think, what we trust and why we believe what we do.
Tell us about your event and we'll check Michelle's availability.
Thank you — your brief is in.
We'll check Michelle's availability for your date and come back to you shortly.