With over 20 years of experience as a national speaker, business professional and author, Connie Merritt, RN, BSN, PHN, is a compelling storyteller who connects with audiences in delivering relevant and timely content that is important - especially during these times. She has a reputation for presenting breakthrough information with step-by-step tactical teachings that are well-seasoned with energy and humor.

In her latest book from McGraw-Hill, Too Busy For Your Own Good, Connie helps people and organizations make vital adjustments to manage the multiple decisions and requests being placed in all areas of life - especially during these do-more-with-less economic times. Her messages have struck a chord with audiences and media throughout America catching the attention of national and regional media including USA Today, Fox Business, FIRST for Women magazine, Advance for Nurses, MORE magazine, Entrepreneur magazine, Ladies Home Journal and Lifetime TV as well as local and nationally syndicated radio and television programs throughout the nation.

Connie has a gift for providing critical content and connecting with her audiences by spinning unforgettable tales, in a relevant and compelling manner. Working with leading companies, organizations and associations throughout the country, Connie specializes in the corporate marketplace as well as the healthcare industry. From speaking to millions of people, she has established a reputation as a professional who knows how to move audiences to take action - which reaps benefits now and into the future.

• Quitting Is Not An Option : "Pressing Forward & Bouncing Back in Tough Times" - Quitting is NEVER an option with a champion and every champion you ever meet, will tell you - there was a day, a moment and an hour when they decided, with a choice of their own will - to never quit. The world around us is shifting and these are rapidly becoming the toughest times most of us have ever seen. Tough times call for tough decisions. The first decision is not to quit - but to persevere wisely and not give into a prevailing atmosphere of fear. Connie helps organizations and individuals understand how to take the necessary actions to make the decisions to meet their challenges by leading and inspiring...and NOT retreat into the paralysis of "just holding on."
  
  
• Get That Spark Back for Life : "Too Busy For Your Own Good" - Once you start asking what else you can fit into your schedule, where does it end? In these challenging times of "do more with less" -- are you forced to multitask to get it all done? And, even if you get it all done, there's still more!
  
  This topic is so important and particularly at this time as it helps people and organizations make vital adjustments in their personal lives and careers to manage the multiple decisions and requests being placed in all areas of life - especially in a "do more with less" economy. The demands of busyness can destroy our balance in life...our health, relationships, finances and careers. Busyness can scramble our priorities and all too often in the wrong order, leading us into stress and a "just hold on" lifestyle.
  
  Connie delivers solid content with a style that is engaging and versatile while providing life-changing principles for individuals and organizations to make wise decisions in managing activities, people, deadlines and endless to-do lists (providing enough time to recharge "to do" the things that are really needed "to do").
  
  
• Dealing with Complainers, Bullies, Grumps & Curmudgeons : "Tame the Lions in Your Life" - Learn time-tested ways to manage unruly "lions" - those difficult people like complainers, bullies, grumps, curmudgeons and passive-aggressives. These are the "lions" that can tear people apart, decrease productivity and increase stress. There are certain people in every circle that could win awards for Curmudgeon of the Year. As well, there are those better known for their bullying behavior, unrealistic demands, condescending tones and unhealthy controlling gestures -- while others specialize in Whine 'n Jeez Parties! Learn powerful skills for resolving conflict as well as options for handling hostility and reducing frustration, intimidation and manipulation by those who demand, bully, complain or are passive aggressive.
  
  This session provides step-by-step strategies and approaches to help anyone when faced with difficult people while managing and maintaining their productivity. You will master the skills for the confidence, professionalism and competence for a positive, successful outcome.
  
  
• The Future of Healthcare & What to Expect This Decade : "The Healthcare Rx for Tweets, Googlers and Geezers" - What are the future trends that will rock healthcare and how will they affect you? Do you wonder what healthcare will be like in this coming decade? You must be ready for an extensive shift in focus in the healthcare management toward concentration on maximizing the length and quality of life. You are a technological-age caregiver, dealing with new fields such as genomics, bioinformatics and pharmacogenomics. You are thrust into a world of complex responsibilities, confusing dilemmas and high-stake decisions - all in a pressure-cooker environment where evidence-based outcomes and the "right thing to do" reigns.
  
  By examining future dynamics, this program supplies the healthcare provider tools to flourish while delivering quality attention and care with a watchful eye on the future.
  
  
• Effective Stress Relief : "Stress Breakthroughs in a 24/7 World" - Do you sense an increase in stress and particularly in these challenging "do more with less" times of sweeping layoffs, large assignments, increased responsibilities, deadlines and life controversies? Does there seem to be more worry, an increase of anxiety-fatigue or more stress outbursts? What we all need to learn is how to operate best within our personal, optimum stress level, while protecting ourselves from dangerous overstress. This program shows you how you can identify and lower stress levels; enjoy successes in the midst of more demands and changes in life.
  
  This powerful program will help strengthen everyone with remedies for assessing and managing stress. Current research states that more than half of the people polled reported an increase in stress since last year. Therefore, most people are operating in stress-exhausted environments or will likely experience stress-related symptoms at home and at work.