Words have been my work for 25 years.

I’m Brett Rutledge, and for more than 25 years I’ve worked on the language organisations use to think, decide and act.

In 1998, representing New Zealand, I became World Champion of Public Speaking. Writing a new speech for every round under that kind of pressure taught me something I’ve built my working life around: the hard part isn’t the delivery. It’s knowing what you think.

That’s the gap I see everywhere in business. Communication that sounds finished when the thinking isn’t. Strategies people can present but not explain. Jargon that lets everyone agree without anyone understanding. Words don’t just express our thinking; they shape it. So when the words are vague, the thinking usually is too.

Today I help leaders close that gap through keynotes, workshops and SENSEMAP®, the method I developed for turning complex ideas into explanations people can understand and act on. I’ve worked with organisations including Microsoft, Toyota, GE, KPMG, Monash Health, the Royal Flying Doctor Service and all four major Australian banks, as well as universities, charities and growing businesses across Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

I also write extensively on popular business thinking, and I write fiction that explores the same questions from other angles: systems, the people inside them, and the stories we tell to avoid the truth.

I live in Melbourne, Australia, and work anywhere with an internet connection.