Presenceto Profit

The Science Behind Connection as a Skill for Growth

Jim Morris wrote Connect or Die: How to Survive AI and founded Human Touch Publishing. A TEDx and keynote speaker, he has bought and sold multiple businesses and now teaches leaders how to become the kind of human other people choose to bet on. As host of the IMPACT Effect event series, Jim speaks on why genuine human connection is the one skill no algorithm can replace.

You’ll walk away with

• 01Connection Reps: the daily practice that makes connection a skill, not a personality trait
• 02Integrity as a system: keeping small promises so people bet on you before you ask
• 03Compassionate curiosity: questions that move a conversation past small talk
• 04The relationship ladder: moving people from acquaintances to allies to confidants, on purpose

The Catalyst of Courage: From Judgement to Connection

Kat Polsinelli is a TEDx speaker and the founder of The Dragon Reclaimed community. She hosts Real Chat with Kat, a top 2.5% globally ranked podcast airing on six radio stations across six states. After surviving a decade of abuse and raising two boys as a single mother, she rebuilt from the bottom up and now teaches leaders how to drop judgment and build a life and a business on their own terms.

You’ll walk away with

• 01Judgment is the gap: everyone in the room is already judging something. Kat names it and gives you a framework to interrupt it, without shame.
• 02Courage is a choice, not a feeling. You don't need to feel ready. You need to be willing. Immediately applicable to every decision you're currently avoiding.
• 03Curiosity over assumption: one question can change the entire conversation, in a sale or anywhere else.
• 04Your brain is running on old information. The judgments you make are filtered through past experiences that may no longer be relevant. Recognizing that is the beginning of changing it.

Why Compassion Is Harder Than Revenge

Dave Weill is a Desert Storm veteran and the author of Deployed with My Mother. He owns a Steak ‘n Shake franchise in Murfreesboro and hosts the Not My Plan podcast, where real people share how life’s unexpected turns can reveal a greater purpose. His experience in service and business has shaped a deeply human perspective on resilient leadership. He knows how difficult it can be to choose compassion.

You’ll walk away with

• 01The formula to reduce stress, anger, anxiousness, disappointment and discouragement, so hard days stop running the show
• 02Understanding that compassion is not about who deserves it, and why that distinction changes everything
• 03How compassion made Dave's Steak 'n Shake the number one Google-rated one in the country
• 04Showing compassion is more for you than it is for the person receiving it, and what that frees you to build

Entrepreneur, Speaker, and Author of The Ghost in the Habit

Anna DiCarlo is an author as well as the creator of the Resolution Reset method, which is dedicated to helping people build meaningful relationships with themselves. This method specializes in pattern recognition and self-connection. Anna bridges the gap between cognitive strategy and physical execution. Her work integrates neuroscience principles with somatic biofeedback (muscle testing and kinesiology) and intuitive assessment to help people expose blind spots, disrupt hidden behavioral loops, and align their execution with their strategy. Make sure to check out her upcoming psychological fiction novel, The Ghost in the Habit, launching this November.

She hosts the evening, from the opening welcome through speaker introductions to the transition into hot seats and Networking Not Normal.