The Annual Meeting of the Association of General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM) 2016 in Jena not only offered serious science, at the first Microbe Slam young researchers took up the challenge of presenting their complicated research in a simple and entertaining way. In front of the crowded main auditorium, ILRS doctoral researcher René Benndorf was up to the task and entertained the audience with an interesting tale of delightful termites, dangerous invaders, little helpers and adventures with lions in South Africa. Congratulations to René for a great performance and the third place!