Whose Shoes Are We Talking To

1
Whose Shoes Are We Talking To?

• Alice Underwood
• Vice President, Converium Reinsurance
• Member, CAS External Communications Committee

2
Are We Talking to THEIR Shoes?

• CAS actuaries have a great message to give!
• But sometimes we have trouble communicating it

3
The Shoes of Maxwell Smart

• The CAS
• What is the ECC?
• You
• Key focus on the audience
• Some communications pitfalls
• Some communications strategies

4
Mission of the ECC

• Coordinate the CAS communication strategy
• Subcommittee on Career Encouragement Academic
  Relations
• Audience students, teachers, professors
• Subcommittee on External Relations
• Audience employers, clients, related
  organizations
• Develop and disseminate information to increase
  awareness understanding of casualty actuaries
  and their work

5
CAS Communications Plan

• http//www.casact.org/members/ecc/commplan.htm
• Some of the objectives for AAA or CAS leadership
• Some of the objectives for ECC
• Promote Dynamic Financial Analysis
• Encourage students to consider a career as a
  casualty actuary
• Foster awareness that casualty actuaries and
  their methods can help corporate America and
  governmental entities better assess, measure, and
  manage risk
• Increase awareness of contributions made by CAS
  actuaries to the P/C insurance industry

6
ECC Related Committees and Programs

• Media Relations Committee
• Media Spokespersons
• Academic Correspondent University Liaison
  Programs
• CAS Trust Scholarship Subcommittee
• Joint CAS/SOA Committee on Academic Relations
• Joint CAS/SOA Committee on Career Encouragement
• Joint CAS/SOA Committee on Minority Recruitment

7
ECC Recent Accomplishments

• Formed the Media Relations Committee
• Promoted the AC/UL Program
• Inaugurated the CAS Trust Scholarship program
• Developed an article on the CAS for the
  Encyclopedia of Actuarial Science
• Collected case studies on actuaries in
  non-traditional roles

8
Back to THEIR Shoes!

• When might we need to communicate to a
  non-actuarial audience?
• Talking about the actuarial profession
• Explaining a particular methodology
• Discussing the results of calculations
• Making recommendations
• What else?

9
What Do We Do Wrong?

• Results of a small, highly unscientific poll
• Get lost in the minutiae
• No translation into laymans terms
• Too much jargon
• At least try to explain
• Trapped by the science

10
Key Focus on the Audience

• Whats in it for them?
• What do you want them to take away?
• How can you communicate your points most
  effectively?

11
Talking about the Profession

• How do you describe what you do?
• What analogies can you draw for your listeners?
• What message do you want to send?
• To your friends family
• To a college student choosing a career
• To another financial professional
• To a nontraditional employer

12
Technically-Oriented Material

• BRIEF summary
• Overview of methods results
• Only a few main points
• Tailor language exhibits to the audience
• Conclusions recommendations
• (Bullet points, bullet points!)

13
Some Communications Pitfalls

• Many of us have fallen into one or more of these,
  at one time or another

14
They Dont Want to See Your Formula!

• Do they really want to see
• ESF?(x, Z) ? xi Pxi Z lt Fz-1(?)
• Or do they want to know
• The expected profit of the account, in years
  when the line of business is tanking

15
Beware Pages Full of Numbers!
16
Beware Pages Full of Numbers!
17
A Picture MIGHT Be Worth 1000 Words
18
A Picture MIGHT Be Worth 1000 Words
19
Dont Include Sidetrack Issues

• This years projected loss ratios
• (when what you want them to hear is the new
  expense allocation method)
• Property catastrophe losses
• (when what you want them to hear is the ex-cat
  results)
• The three methods that didnt work
• (when what you want them to hear is the results
  of the method that worked)

20
Some Communications Strategies

• Ideas for more effective communication

21
Have Only a Few Key Points

• Dont try to handle more than three or four key
  points in a single communication
• More than that and whats the focus?
• A blur!
• Emphasize your key points strongly make them
  stand out

22
Make It Concrete

• Use (a few) examples as appropriate
• Provide an illustration
• Give an analogy
• Offer something to hang on to

23
Help Them Stay Awake and Engaged!

• Ask a leading question
• Give them a problem to think about
• Have a sense of humor!

24
Conclude with a Conclusion or Maybe a Question

• Not just a bunch of data
• Not just a bunch of calculations
• Conclude with a question
• Need your input
• What do you prefer
• Conclude with a conclusion
• Make a recommendation
• Provisional conclusion may be OK

25
Remember Not YOUR Shoes!

• Whats in it for them?
• What do you want them to take away?
• How can you communicate your points most
  effectively?