The challenge of creating the future is firmly located in how well we can re-align our values and beliefs to the current requirements of our time. If we want to have a hope of creating the future that we desperately desire, we first have to create an understanding of the world. A understanding that links facts to reality, and reality to our vision of the future.
Bite Me! leverages our perceptions of spiders and their bites to demonstrate how our values and beliefs can be detached from reality. It’s a powerful analogy that connects to the audience deep down inside. It’s unique, a little bit strange, funny, has some epic poignant moments that teach us an important lesson about our values and beliefs towards the world.
If you consider yourself living through a period of change, if you are uncertain about the future, and want to make the world a better place, then Bite Me is for you!
Bite Me! is part of the One World Ecosystem which supported by award winning book, One World.
Where do I start! Thank you for your presentation entitled Bite Me!, although a few of our members were not keen on the topic, they were all very pleased they attended. Your presentation was simply amazing, particularly the way you interact with the audience with humour. The message of how we need to change our values and beliefs is very important today’s world. We will definitely get you back to share your enthusiasm and knowledge with our members in the future.
Thank you Mary for your comment. it was a great audience with some amazing questions! I pleased I made a impression within your organisation.
I’ve been to many conferences where one after another, the speakers iterate the same fact based message that it all sounds the same. Yeah, yeah… I’ve heard it all before. But, your message was so unique and fresh, it stood out head and shoulders above other. I have to commend you on the way you worked the audience by dissecting the fear and perceptions of spiders. It was pure genius. Then Boom! You drop your message like a sledgehammer, and everyone just gets it!
When I went home, that I realised your message is so applicable in the current time. Now everytime I see a spider, it reminds me of how I need to change my values and beliefs towards all aspects of the world.
Hi Steve, I’ve spent many years working with spiders and speaking about them. I know what questions to ask, to get the answer I want, to ask the next questions. I call it poking the audience. The best part for me is then I “drop the hammer” (as you say), the faces in the audience immediatly change.
Just goes to show that, together we can change tomorrow today!
Jonathan Leeming delivered a most entertaining presentation entitled ‘Bite Me!’. On thanking him Antoinette Reis said that he knows well that an audience learns better while having fun. Attendees also commented that the subject on spiders, while seemingly serious, was handled in a most receptive and fun way. Jonathan’s facial expression was always open and welcoming. All of the best.
Thank you Jonathan, such an interesting evening last night at Inkwazi Bird Club, everyone enjoyed it
Thank you, Johnathan, for a very insightful presentation at the SA Hunters and Game Conservation (Centurion) branch evening. We learned a lot. I can see you do it with great passion. Good work.
Hi Jonathan, thank you for the presentation to our SA Hunters and Game Conservation Association members at the Centurion branch. Apart from very informative it was also an eye opener to many a member at the meeting. This is a presentation that needs to be heard by much more people especially those who have this “Hollywood” fear of spiders. I am sure we can, with better understanding and knowledge, contribute much more to the conservation of all living creatures on this planet. Thank you for the way in which you did this presentation.
Thank you for your amazing zoom presentation. I loved the way you conveyed your message... so different and yet engaging. It has provided me with a new way to see the world. Thank you once again, I hope to be at one of your other presentations.
Hi Sandy
Thank you! I had a few message from your members who also enjoyed the Zoom meeting.
Thanks for the excellent and informative presentation last evening. You certainly dispelled the common thoughts and myths around spider bites. Many of us have erroneously accused a spider of a bite when in fact a skin discoloration could be caused by a number of things. The title and visual of your talk with the Hour Glass/Button Spider and words Bite Me! are chilling and compelling at the same time. We certainly went away far better informed and less prejudiced towards spiders in particular and people and perceptions in general.
Thank you!
Hi Sue
Thank you for the comment! I'm pleased you and your members enjoyed my presentation over Zoom. I love giving this presentation as it opens the mind to how we perceive the world around us. A very important message in todays modern world.
We all thoroughly enjoyed the talk, informative and entertaining. Even my mum, who was a little reluctant to listen, totally enjoyed it. Thanks and well done! And many thanks for mentioning Painted Wolf Wines. 😊
Hi Jonathan,
Thank you so much for your Zoom presentation "Bite Me"!!
We all thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and the time whizzed by with all the interesting information.
It was one of the most fun zooms we've had, full of your own quirky humour!!!
Thank you for a most interesting presentation.
The presentation style was confident and relaxed.
Superb ability to empathise and connect with the audience. A most enviable skill.
Abundant evidence of not only knowledge of the subject, but enthusiasm for, and love of the subject.
Cannot wait to learn more!
Thank you for another well-presented and interesting talk. The information and resources will be very useful for our education programmes and will help reduce some of the bad publicity surrounding these amazing creatures.
I thoroughly enjoyed your "Biting" contribution to Leadership in Conservation in Africa's (LCA) "Spark Talks" series on Wed 11th Feb. Your content was relevant and meaningful to a broad age-spectrum, peppered with humour, and you succeeded in causing your audience to re-evaluate our attitude towards the things in life that we may be fearful of. Mission accomplished!
With "Zoom Rooms" and webinars becoming a way of life as we settle into our "New Normal", you proved also that this medium of communication need not be cringingly boring and yawningly mediocre. Your carefully considered use of slides, structure, pacing, humour (sometimes delightfully subtle!) to gift-wrap the facts in your content worked extremely effectively and ensured that you didn't allow the audience's attention to flag - you gave us one of the most well-constructed, informative, enjoyable - i.e. totally professional - presentations that I've had the pleasure of watching!
Often overlooked is the person who introduces the speaker; in this instance, Dr Cheryl Ogilvie was an excellent choice to whet our appetites for what was to come - she avoided merely reciting reams of dry and potentially irrelevant facts about your background and, instead, stamped her enthusiasm and anticipation all over her introduction.
Sincere thanks also to LCA for providing the platform for your message to reach an even wider audience than the "Old Normal" would have allowed, and to Chris Marais for moderating the process.
Love to attend
Hi David
I'll send you an invite to my next event online event.
Jonathan