Whose Shoes Are We Talking To?

Alice UnderwoodVice President, Converium Reinsurance

Member, CAS External Communications Committee

Are We Talking to THEIR Shoes?

CAS actuaries have a great message to give!

But sometimes we have trouble communicating it…

The Shoes of Maxwell Smart

The CAS What is the ECC?

You Key: focus on the audience Some communications pitfalls Some communications strategies

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

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

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

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

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…?

What Do We Do Wrong?

Results of a small, highly unscientific poll: “Get lost in the minutiae” “No translation into layman’s terms” “Too much jargon” “At least try to explain” “Trapped by the science”

Key: Focus on the Audience

What’s in it for them? What do you want them to “take

away”? How can you communicate your

points most effectively?

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

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!)

Some Communications Pitfalls

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

They Don’t Want to See Your Formula!

Do they really want to see

ESF(x, Z) = xi • P[xi | Z < Fz-1()]

Or do they want to know

“The expected profit of the account, in years when the line of business is tanking”

Beware Pages Full of Numbers!

2002 Year on YearLine of Business Premium Growth

1 18,372,665 25.3%2 848,198 19.5%3 19,036,018 0.2%4 6,300,520 2.7%5 938,135 28.6%6 139,062 27.6%7 1,625,482 23.4%8 616,190 4.7%9 1,750,743 26.4%10 930,859 27.3%

Total 50,557,871 12.8%

Beware Pages Full of Numbers!

2002 Year on YearLine of Business Premium (000s) Growth

1 18,373 25%2 848 19%3 19,036 0%4 6,301 3%5 938 29%6 139 28%7 1,625 23%8 616 5%9 1,751 26%10 931 27%

Total 50,558 13%

A Picture MIGHT Be Worth 1000 Words

Parameter Space Plot

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5

Rho

Th

eta

A Picture MIGHT Be Worth 1000 Words

Premium Growth by LOB

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Line Of Business

Don’t Include Sidetrack Issues

This year’s 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 didn’t work (when what you want them to hear is the results of

the method that worked)

Some Communications Strategies

Ideas for more effective communication…

Have Only a Few Key Points

Don’t try to handle more than three or four key points in a single communication More than that and what’s the focus? A blur!

Emphasize your key points strongly: make them stand out

Make It Concrete

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

Help Them Stay Awake and Engaged!

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

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

Remember: Not YOUR Shoes!

What’s in it for them? What do you want them to “take

away”? How can you communicate your

points most effectively?