Emily’s approach.
Emily makes change simple, real and achievable.
If you are facing a behavioural challenge, complex problem, or simply seeking to better understand your world, Emily can help.
Fusing neuroscience with decades of practical experience, Emily tailors her presentation to your audience, sector and desired outcomes to create an experience that drives real impact.
To learn more about the insights Emily can bring to your organisation browse below, or click on one of the shortcuts provided.
Topics
Behavioural Science
How to change behaviour
Harnessing the power of behavioural science to drive real results
Whether you are aiming to make better decisions, inspire clients to act, or build a culture that embraces change and innovation, you are in the business of behaviour change. Yet knowing what to do is one thing – getting yourself and others to actually do it is another. Too often well-intentioned initiatives burn time, money and energy without delivering impact.
In this dynamic, evidence-based session, Dr Emily heath demystifies the neuroscience and psychology or why we act the way we do – and what it really takes to shift behaviour. You’ll discover practical frameworks and actionable tools to create meaningful, lasting change in any setting.
This presentation will:
Give you simple, practical tools to improve performance and outcomes
Teach you to recognise common behavioural traps – and avoid them
Provide fascinating insights from psychology to spark growth and new thinking
Under the surface: how we really decide
Lifting the lid on the invisible behavioural drivers that guide our actions
Every decision we make shapes our future. Yet the forces steering those choices are often invisible – even to us. We like to believe we are logical, informed, and deliberate. But behavioural science reveals a different story: what feels rational is often just the story our brain tells after the decision has been made.
Beneath the surface, subconscious but powerful drivers are at work. Emotions can quietly override reason. Cognitive biases distort our view of reality. Heuristics – mental shortcuts – help us decide faster, but not always better. These unseen mechanisms can hold us back, push us forward, or send us sideways without us realising why.
In this engaging, evidence-based session, Dr Emily Heath takes you on a guided tour of the human decision-making engine. You’ll uncover the psychological and neurological forces that shape our actions, often without our consent, and learn how to bring them into view. With insight and practical strategies, you’ll discover how to make better decisions, inspire others to act, and design environments that nudge people toward positive outcomes.
This presentation will:
Reveal the unseen drivers of human behaviour — and how they influence our choices
Equip you with tools to recognise and counter common decision-making pitfalls
Offer practical strategies to design for better decisions in life, work, and leadership
Communicating with impact
Leveraging behavioural insights to turn messages into momentum
We’ve all had moments where what we said and what was heard were two very different things. That’s because communication isn’t just about words: it’s about perception, emotion, and context. The most compelling message in the world will fall flat if it doesn’t connect at a human level.
Behavioural science shows us that emotion is the entry point for engagement. When we understand the feelings that drive others – and ourselves – we can create messages that inspire action, not just agreement. But it also means being aware of how our words, tone, and presence are interpreted, and how the brain’s natural shortcuts and biases can distort meaning.
In this interactive session, Dr Emily Heath explores the real-world science of impactful communication. You’ll learn how to design messages that resonate, bridge the gap between intent and impact, and avoid the hidden traps that can derail understanding. The result? Clearer, more influential conversations that inspire action.
This presentation will:
Show you how to harness the power of emotion to create buy-in and commitment
Help you understand the reality of how you – and your language – are perceived
Reveal how common cognitive biases shape the way messages are interpreted
Equip you craft messages that spark imagination, inspire change and motivate action
Becoming a Memory Magician
Hacking the Mind-Bending Science of How We Remember (and Forget)
Ever forgotten someone’s name moments after meeting them? Walked into a room and only to wonder why you were there? Or struggled to recall that one thing on the shopping list you swore you wouldn’t forget? Memory is one of the most powerful – and puzzling – functions of the human brain. But what if you could train it?
In this interactive, laugh-out-loud and highly practical masterclass, you’ll explore the fascinating science of memory, learn proven techniques to boost recall, and discover how to embed knowledge so it sticks. From the bizarre to the brilliant, you’ll walk away equipped to remember names, dates, to-dos and more – no flashcards required.
Together, we will:
Explore the science of how memory really works – including the bizarre, beautiful, and (occasionally) broken ways our brains store and retrieve information
Unlock proven memory techniques used by world champions
Put your new superpowers to the test in fun, fast-paced challenges – and walk away with a practical toolset you’ll be using (and showing off) for years to come
Financial Decision Making
Dr Emily Heath holds deep expertise in financial decision making, wellbeing and vulnerability. Emily has led research, advisory and behavioural design programs on the topic across public, private and community sectors.
From supporting Australian banks to design and implement scam intervention strategies, advising the Federal Government on how to close the gendered financial capability gap, and architecting some of the world’s largest multi-award winning financial capability programs, Emily’s work in the financial decision making space is both practical and deepy grounded in the science of human behaviour.
Emily is the author of How do we really build financial capability? Her research has been presented domestically, including at the ASIC Financial Capability Community of Practice, and at international conferences such as the Annual Conference on Financial Education and she sat on the ASIC Schools and Money Working Group.
If you’re looking to create financial decision-making solutions that are practical, evidence-based and grounded in real human behaviour, Emily is here to help. She can translate insight into meaningful, measurable change.
Becoming scam safe
Using neuroscience to understand, prevent and respond to scams
Every scam relies on a human being deceived. That makes scams not just a technological issue, but a deeply human one. As Australians lose record amounts to increasingly sophisticated scams, organisations are facing increasing pressure (from consumers, legislators and internal stakeholders) to keep their customers, their teams and their data safe.
In this evidence-based session, you’ll uncover the psychological and environmental factors that drive scam victimisation – and learn practical approaches to build resilience. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and real-world research, Dr Emily Heath reveals the approaches that actually work to safeguard people.
This session will help you:
Understand the human factors that drive scam victimisation – and what this means for protection, intervention and support
Recognise the inadvertent ways that companies increase scam susceptibility, and what to do instead
Provide practical strategies to protect customers and teams both before and after encountering a scam
Building financial interventions that work
The psychology and behavioural economics of financial decision making
Did you know that our environment can be a better predictor of financial outcomes than our knowledge? That teaching someone to budget can drive worse financial outcomes? Or that traditional financial education programs lead people to make more mistakes, not less?
In this engaging and evidence-based session, you’ll learn how to design interventions that improve outcomes for real people in the real world. Drawing on research, case studies and experience designing some of the world’s largest financial capability programs, Dr Emily Heath unpacks the reality of financial decision making and shows you how to build approaches that stick.
Whether you’re a financial institution working to protect vulnerable customers, a government agency shaping policy, a financial educator designing programs, or a leader seeking to train and empower your teams, this session gives you practical tools to make a meaningful difference.
In this workshop we will:
Explore how we really make financial decisions
Discuss how we can build financial interventions – for ourselves, our teams or our customers – that drive measurable impact
Recognise how we can use the science of financial decision making to create effective, tailored solutions including to support vulnerable customers, scam victims or marginalised and disengaged groups
