I’d post my deck but I’m one of these people that leans heavily on images and animations instead of text so the deck doesn’t mean much without me talking as well. What I will do here is outline the key messages from my presentation.

Risk

There are mutlitude of theories out there on the way that humans perceive and respond to risk. I gave my audience a 5-minute crash course in these theories. The main concepts are those of perceived risk vs. real risk. I tried to frame the discussion in terms of what our society views as risky vs. socially acceptable gambling.

I put buying lottery tickets into the camp of “real risk”. The odds are greatly stacked against you when you give someone money in exchange for a lottery ticket yet many people do it daily.

Perceived risks are those where your experience, social pressure, the media, a lack of control and a lack of understanding about the true nature of that risk contribute to a scenario where you are disproportionately fearful of thing. Volcanoes, earthquakes, floods and the like fall into that category.

I also raised the issue of how people are more risk tolerant when they have something to lose versus when they have something to gain. What I mean by this is that when you have the choice between buying insurance or taking a chance that nothing will happen, many people opt to waive the insurance. On the other hand, when someone looks at a GIC vs. risk capital – people choose the safer (but lower payout) option over the potentially much larger payout with risk capital.

Generation Y

This was the hardest part of the talk to give. There have been many studies on the demographic cohort referred to as “Generation Y” or the “Millenials”. In essence, I’m talking about people born between 1980 and 2000. I had assumed that this group I was talking to mostly fell between 1986 and 1990 but I was surprized when one young woman told me she was born in 1992.

The real issue that I was highlighting for them is where the opportunities lie in their future. There is a demographic shift coming by 2015 where Baby Boomers will be retiring en masse and we will experience a labour shortage in Canada. It’s coming. The current economic crisis will not slow down its arrival. I wrote recently on this issue and how we need to prepare [READ].

What this means to GenYers is higher wages, better job security, decreased value of credentials vs. experience and/or willingness to try something. It also means that there will be a greater burden on this generation to support the Boomers as their health deteriorates. My key message to them was that “the biggest risk you face in your coming careers and lives is getting too comfortable.” I truly believe that what sets truly successful people apart from everyone else is leadership ability and the willingness to put their own neck on the line.

That’s what I was trying to drive at – a favourable labour market for GenYers is a good opportunity to accelerate your career and set yourself up for greatness. The rest of the presentation concentrated on practical ways to stick your neck out a little and pushing the envelope. For example, I talked about how you can have a job but still push the envelope by being an “intrapreneur”.

The funniest feedback I got from students who attended my presentation was “wow. That presentation was great. I’ve never seen anyone swear in a presentation like you did. Awesome.” I didn’t know the bar was set so low. There’s a key message there too – if you’re talking to GenYers, keep the conversation casual and funny. They get enough lectures as it is.