Abstracts 101: How actuaries craft their submissions

Actuaries Digital: When did you first submit an abstract or paper for a major event?

The first abstract and presentation I was involved in was for the 2014 General Insurance Seminar. The topic was on innovation driving change in motor insurance, talking through the impact of driverless cars and technological innovation on the motor insurance space. – Jenna Cooke

The General Insurance Seminar in 2010 – I think this was my third year of full-time work. – Hugh Miller

I have spoken at major events for many years in my ‘day job’, but for the profession it was for the 2017 Summit. Since then I also spoke in 2019, curated the Investment stream for the last two years and ran a panel discussion on markets in 2021. I have also presented an Insights session in Sydney and also, in a first, to a combined group in Singapore with their local SAS and the Actuaries Institute. – Douglas Isles

It must be nearly 30 years since Paul Swinhoe and I wrote our seminal Margin on Services paper. – Naomi Edwards

I have presented 3 papers at the actuaries conference. I did the first one about 10 years ago. Two papers were on industry funds versus retail funds, which were quite controversial. One was on post retirement products. – Nicolette Rubinsztein

Actuaries Digital: What were your feelings around creating the abstract/paper?

I was nervous about whether anyone would be interested in what we had to say, as well as concerned about the amount of work involved in pulling the presentation together on top of my normal workload. Luckily both of those fears were unfounded! I was lucky enough to have a few other actuaries to work with on the submission and that really helped in terms of bouncing ideas off each other and sharing the workload. It was also a lot of fun to do something collaborative with people I wouldn’t normally work with and exploring ideas that I was passionate about. – Jenna Cooke

I think its important to believe in yourself but we all have an insight that is worth sharing with an audience. You are an expert, other people can learn from you, as what you do will not be their area of expertise. And those in the same area will often value hearing an alternate perspective. I have been fortunate in my role, that it involves presenting regularly, but nonetheless, you still have to apply to be selected, and hence you need to think about the context of your knowledge and what might be most appealing to the group. – Douglas Isles

I was excited to be doing some work to contribute to the wider knowledge base of the profession. – Hugh Miller

Co-writing and co-presenting is much more fun than going it alone! – Naomi Edwards

Like many actuaries, I love delving into a topic and sharing what I have learnt. For all my presentations, I felt strongly that the area needed to be better understood. Possibly unlike many actuaries, I love putting a good powerpoint narrative together! I have a strong visual sense. – Nicolette Rubinsztein

Actuaries Digital: What did you get out of the process with submitting/presenting to a large actuarial audience?

An excuse to spend some time doing R&D! And practicing presenting is always great. – Hugh Miller

In 2019 I spoke about Cohesion, and how the way teams are built impacts on their outcomes. This was a very different topic to much of the traditional content at the event, but it was an area I had been exposed to and thought it was worth sharing. I got great feedback and felt it was worthwhile to have brought a new concept to the group. – Douglas Isles

In all cases, it was a huge learning experience. The thought of presenting to actuaries can be terrifying. At the end of the day, they are a group of intellectual giants. I was petrified of someone asking a difficult question and looking stupid. Funnily enough, this happened once, but I survived to tell the tale! In the end, I think I got three things out of it. Presentation experience. Good personal profile. And finally, the feel good factor of sharing knowledge. – Nicolette Rubinsztein

Actuaries Digital: What advice do you have for those who are unsure if their ideas are relevant to audiences?

If you’re passionate about an idea then I would suggest there are most likely going to be others who are also interested. We actuaries love new ideas and concepts and discussing these with our peers, the thirst of learning is one of the best things about our profession! If you’re really nervous then perhaps seeking feedback from peers and friends would be another one to gain the confidence to go forward with your ideas. – Jenna Cooke

Send it in and let the curator decide! Nothing to lose! – Douglas Isles

As long as it’s a topic you think has value, it’s worth doing. I’ve done quite a few presentations to very small audiences. – Hugh Miller

Actuaries love to learn about new things outside our core areas. I once submitted a paper on the carbon lifecycle of native forests.  A lot of actuaries were very interested in the topic, even though it didn’t relate to our work. – Naomi Edwards

Actuaries Digital: What should actuaries look to present on at the upcoming 2022 All-Actuaries Summit?

Whatever you are passionate about! I’m really interested in applications of actuarial equity concepts to big picture public policy, like tax systems and housing schemes. – Naomi Edwards

Actuaries Digital: What should actuaries involved in the General Insurance industry look to present on?

Honestly we’d love to hear any ideas and thoughts on what you find interesting! Any topics will be gladly considered. If you’re stuck for ideas some possible areas could be: Affordability, Analytics and use of data, Blockchain, Natural disasters and the impact of changing climate, Cyber risk, Innovation, technology and disruption, Artificial Intelligence in insurance, Changes in Customer Expectations, The impact of COVID-19. – Jenna Cooke 

Actuaries Digital: What should actuaries involved in the Investment/Wealth Management/Financial industries look to present on?

These areas are less mainstream in the profession and underserved in terms of content. Often people in these areas will see themselves as part of eg Investment Management or Financial Planning for example, but have attended lots of conferences in these areas, and suffer a mental blank with what might appeal to actuaries in these areas. Reflect for a moment, that you would be the target audience of this content to some extent. So, what appeals to you about the message you would like to share, and do you think other similar actuaries, who sometimes feel a little marginalised at these events, would welcome the insights. We have had some success in this stream of bringing two or three presenters together within an hour, and creating panels and/or mini-TED talks, and I like this idea of accommodating diverse views among the submissions. – Douglas Isles

Actuaries Digital: What should actuaries involved in the Data Analytics industry look to present on?

Specific applications, with some interesting detail are always good; I love learning from examples. – Hugh Miller

Actuaries Digital: How do you get over stage fright?

I think it’s natural to be a little apprehensive about going on stage in front of a crowd! But when I do it I try to remember that everyone there is genuinely interested to hear what I have to say and as a profession everyone is incredibly supportive of one another and wants to learn and hear new perspectives. So what you have to say is valuable and will be well received! – Jenna Cooke

Getting on for 20 years ago I went on a two day acting course at NIDA. The lesson I took away was the idea of improvisation. The biggest problem in presenting comes from the fact that if your slot length equates to the entirety of your knowledge on a topic, you might end up in trouble if you fumble your lines, so speak on topics where you know a lot more than the time you are assigned to speak for, and be clear on the two or three things you must get across. That way, if anything goes wrong, you can default to a conversation with the audience. Like a wedding speech, the audience actually wants you to go well, there is nothing more painful than sitting through a poor speaker, so they are on your side, take comfort in that! – Douglas Isles

I’ll let you know when it happens. – Hugh Miller

I am the worst person to answer this question since I have loved being on stage since I was 2 and the trouble is to get me off the stage. – Naomi Edwards

Over the years, I have leant to deal with stage fright. The best thing is practice. The more you present, the easier it becomes. On a more tactical level, I do 4 things. I present out loud to myself five times (which is very cringeworthy, but works!). I think through possible questions and answers. I think about my audience and what their perspective is likely to be. I get to the room early to orientate myself. – Nicolette Rubinsztein

Actuaries Digital: How should an actuary recruit co-presenters for a joint presentation or panel?

Reach out to your peers, workmates ad university friends who might be interested in teaming up with you. Feel free to contact myself or any of the other conveners as we’d love to help you connect with others to progress your ideas. – Jenna Cooke

Work colleagues are often a good place to start, but ultimately looking for someone with both time and interest to work on a topic. – Hugh Miller

You could advertise through Actuaries Digital or approach a practice committee convenor. – Naomi Edwards

Actuaries Digital: Any other advice for actuaries who want to get involved with submitting an abstract?

Give it a go! It’s a very rewarding and enjoyable way to meet others, discuss interesting ideas and grow as an actuary. – Jenna Cooke

Thought leadership is an important part of the profession, and it’s very rewarding to get involved. – Hugh Miller

With the call for abstracts closing shortly on Friday 3 December for the 2022 All-Actuaries Summit and Friday 31 March 2022 for ICA2023, we want to ensure your submission is polished with a strong statement and crystal clear point of view.

You can find out more about our upcoming major events below

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