I gave a presentation to the UNC Charlotte Actuarial Club on Thursday. It was the first time I had done an actuarial presentation and I had a good time, minus all the anxiety and sweating leading up to it. I probably spent somewhere in the neighborhood of 35-40 hours constructing and practicing a speech that lasted about 40 minutes. I was very happy with the students’ engagement. I received nine questions throughout the presentation and at the end, and from certain follow-up questions it seemed they were actually interested (and not just there for extra credit).
I was able to do this presentation because I had been reaching out to universities and checking if they’d like to buy my goal journal (linked below) for their students. The professor didn’t say she’d buy any initially but she did offer to let me give a presentation.
What I gave in this presentation:
- Rundown of my background and my exam experience
- Strategies that worked and ones that didn’t work
- Additional resources that could be utilized
What I got from this presentation:
- 25 pairs of eyeballs on my personality and on my books
- Network connections that may come in handy
- Two new LinkedIn connections
- Public speaking practice
- A good ole time
What this whole experience showed me is that I should be doing more and more of similar activities. I think this reinvigorated me as I’m now more sure I should try to distribute the journal around to actuarial students. I also want to show actuarial students that their skillset is transferable to many areas, some of which could be very lucrative with more autonomy; They seemed thoroughly interested in my real estate acquisitions and how I went about some of my personal decisions. I don’t want them thinking that just because they study actuarial science means that they are forever an “actuary” and only that. Actually for that matter I don’t think it’s good if anyone identifies first with the way they make money.
