European Podcasters Adapt To Life Under Lockdown

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My body has clearly had enough of this locked-down reality. It’s behaving very strangely and I’ll share that with you in just a moment. But first I want to share a couple of stories from European podcasters (well, podcasters in Europe, at least) caught up in the pandemic like the rest of us.

Laetitia Perraut - One Thing In A French Day

When the lockdown started in France on March 16th, I had the weekend to think about many things. Getting organized at home with my 3 girls, going shopping alone because my husband had to go to work in Paris, and running the podcast.

I had to share what we were going through, so I decided to release a new episode each day. It was a little bit challenging, but I think it was a good thing to do. Within 10 days, my audience had grown up by 30%!

As I cannot travel to talk with guests in person as I used to, I had to find other ways to interview people. Tomorrow, I’m doing my first interview on the phone.

The lockdown has also been a sort of laboratory. For example, I’m trying to improve my audio editing skills. I’ve changed the music I use to produce an episode. I’m taking a lot more photos that I’m sharing with my listeners. And I’m testing new ideas with my paying subscribers.

This period is changing me and the relations that I have with my listeners. From their feedback, I’m confident I’m doing the right thing.

Stephanie Fuccio - Geopats Podcast

My answer to how the lockdown is affecting me and my podcasting requires just a hair of backstory. Until January 1, 2020, I had been living as an expat in Shanghai, China. On literally the first day of 2020, I moved to Berlin, Germany to start my next international adventure. I was exploring my new adopted country, enrolled in some German language classes, and was plying my craft from various coffee shops and coworking spaces. As an expat who travels a lot, I’m very comfortable working as a “digital nomad”, as everything I do just requires my computer.

But then the quarantine started. The virus came to Europe. And I’m on a six-month job-seeker visa. Ouch.

In all of the newness and temporariness that comes with plopping oneself in a new country, my husband and I booked a temporary apartment. We didn't plan on spending tons of time in the apartment, so we didn’t focus on creature comforts. So while the furniture we have is functional, it isn't something you really want to spend days and days nestled into, you know?

Now we were supposed to stay inside most of the time. We get out for walks in the parks, exercise, grocery stores… the usual stuff that you guys are dealing with in the States too. I had to get creative on how I was going to sit and work on my computer. I'll spare you a lot of the details, but I used everything from a hard IKEA dining room chair, to a yoga ball, to a folding chair that you would use at a sporting event, to a standing desk on a dresser, to the bed, to various Amazon boxes piled on top of each other and/or piled on top of my lap, to just standing at every single counter and space available in the apartment.

Nothing worked.

So I did decide to put my podcasts on hiatus. I'm still working on #PodRevDay and some different podcasting efforts like the podcast accountability group I belong to and our weekly newsletter. I can't be completely detached because I love all this stuff too much!

This has brought up something that I haven’t heard much in the podcasting groups that I'm in. Physically, what do we do to stay comfortable and healthy while we're podcasting? I know people say, “get up and move around”, “drink a lot of water”, that kind of thing.

But when I started asking podcasters something as basic as what kind of chair they use, I got more giggles than anything else. That’s inspired me to do a special episode on The Geopats Podcast, where I ask that very question: What is your physical setup?

I don't want to talk about your tech. I want to talk about your physical set up. Not everybody who podcasts has access to comfortable office chairs. How do we not put our physical bodies in pain while we record the episodes that we desperately want to send out into the world?

Happ 300th Episode To Me

Big thanks to Laetecia and to Stephanie for sharing their stories. Hopefully you found them inspirational. But let's talk about me. It is the 300th episode, after all. Clearly I should find a little bit of time to talk about myself as a podcast or under the lockdown just like you.

So far so good. Those of you who've been listening for a while know that we had a bit of a fever scare at ShEvo Studios recently. But that seems to have gone away, so I think we're fine.

But here's a weird new thing.I'm only eating one meal a day. What's up with that?

This week, I have only eaten lunch. I normally skip breakfast during the week, so I always have lunch. Not a huge lunch, because I don’t like working when I’m stuffed. But this week when dinner time comes around… I haven’t been hungry. So I don’t eat. Perhaps my body is sick and tired of all of the crap that I have been feeding it for the five weeks prior to this? And maybe that's good, because my body is also saying, “Dude, I am the heaviest I've been in a long time. Let's not do this anymore.” OK, body. You win. I could skip a meal or twelve.

I hope things are fine for you, but I realize that things are not fine -- not fine at all -- for many people out there. I am very sorry if that is the case for you. I've said this before and I'll say it again: If you're struggling with your podcast during the lockdown, I want to help. Seriously. You will not be impinging upon our friendship or whatever this relationship is, I promise. Yes, you can just email me out of the blue like a few people already have. I like it when podcasters send me emails asking for me to help them think through a problem or challenge. I really do love doing it.

This is a genuine, free offer. No strings attached. If you're stuck on something, or if you're not sure what you should do, let me know.I'm here to help.

Tell A Friend About Podcast Pontifications

Please tell one person -- just one person -- about Podcast Pontifications. Like actually send them a personalized email and suggest that they listen to this program. It makes a huge difference when you reach out to someone personally. I love the retweets. I love you sharing episodes on social properties. But sending one person a single message works really, really well.

Have a fantastic rest of your Thursday. Enjoy your Friday (because I don't do episodes on Fridays). And then have a great weekend. At home.

Be well and I'll see you back on Monday for yet another Podcast Pontifications.

Cheers!

Published On:

April 23, 2020

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PP300 - European Podcasters Adapt To Life Under Lockdown

Evo Terra: [00:00:00] It's one thing to be locked down as a podcaster in Paris. It's another to be an American podcast, or who left China just before the outbreak and is now sequestered in Germany. We're going to hear those stories today. Oh, and also it's the 300th episode of podcast pontifications woo.

[00:00:23] Hello, and welcome to another podcast. Pontifications with me Evo. Tara. My body has clearly had enough of this locked down reality. It's, it's behaving very strangely. I'm going to talk about that in just a moment, but first I want to share a couple of stories from European podcasters. First up, we have Latitia.

[00:00:45] She does one. Thing in a French day. She's got some really big changes. He's seen some really big changes in her show, big changes in her life and all beneficial. I think you'll find the story inspiring. And then Stephanie from the geo paths podcast. It's a wild story. She's original. She's an American. She lived in China and then right before the lockdown she left China and is now in Berlin dealing with.

[00:01:10] Interesting challenges that you probably don't face, although who knows? Maybe you do a, I'm going to let them talk for a moment and then I'm going to come back and talk about me, okay? Okay.

[00:01:23] Laetitia Perraut : [00:01:23] Bushel. this is Letitia. Thank you so much for your work with working with casters. I run the podcast one thing in a French day. It's an all in French podcasts for listeners who want to improve their French comprehension. I started this podcast in 2006 I released three episodes a week, and my listeners are mainly from the United States, Canada, England, and Germany.

[00:01:53] When the lockdown started in France on March the 16th I had the weekend to think at many things at the same time, getting organized at home with my three girls. Go shopping alone because. My husband had to go to work in Paris and running the podcast. I magically had the feeling that I had to share what we were going through, and I decided to release a new episode each day.

[00:02:20] It was a little bit challenging, but I think it was the good thing to do. Within 10 days. My audience, I gone up by 30%. As I cannot go to different places. I used to, I had to find Oh ways to interview people. Tomorrow I'm doing my first interview on the phone. The lockdown is also for me sort of laboratory.

[00:02:44] For example, I try to improve the ending of the podcast. I change the podcast jingle. I take more photos. That I share with my listeners. I test new ideas with my paying subscribers. This period is changing me, is changing the relations that I have with my listeners and I have more confidence that I am doing the right thing.

[00:03:10] Thank you very much. IBM too. Bye bye.

[00:03:16] Stephanie Fuccio: [00:03:16] Hello Evo and hello podcast pontification listeners, this is Stephanie from the geo paths podcast where we talk to people around the world about the nichey fans. I'm super interested in like books, the internet language, and our newest show is a global podcasting show. So even though you asked how we were being affected and how our podcast, who is being affected by everything that's happening.

[00:03:38] With the virus and the quarantine and all that kind of good stuff. And my answer requires just a hair of backstory. I was living in Shanghai, China for about three years, and I moved to Berlin, Germany on January 1st literally the first day of 2020 so in the first few months that we were in Berlin, I was actually wanting to explore quite a bit.

[00:03:56] But I was also taking German classes, so I took my computer with me and I was working from coffee shops and coworking spaces and that kinds of thing, and that was comfortable enough for me to do everything I needed to do on my computer. But then the quarantine started. The virus came to Europe. Uh, just after I got this beautiful six month job seeker visa that allowed me to stay in the country for six months and continue to look for work and all that kind of good stuff.

[00:04:24] In all of this newness and all of this temporariness, my husband and I booked a temporary apartment, sort of like a glorified Airbnb. We didn't particularly look at it like, we're going to spend tons of time in the apartment and I think, you know where I'm going with this. So the furniture isn't necessarily something you really want to spend days and days and it's nestled up.

[00:04:42] Ben too. Needless to say, once the quarantine hit and we were supposed to stay inside most of the time, except for like parks, exercise, that kind of thing. Grocery store is the, the usual stuff that you guys are dealing with in the States too. I had to get creative on how I was going to sit and work on my computer.

[00:05:00] I'll spare you a lot of the details, but I used everything from a hardwood and Ikea dining room set chair to a yoga ball. To his folding sports chair that you would use, like at a sporting event, to a standing desk on a dresser to the bed, to various Amazon boxes piled on top of each other and or piled on top of my lap to just standing at every single counter and space available in the apartment.

[00:05:26] Nothing worked. So I did decide to put my. Podcasts on hiatus, although I'm still working on like pod rev day. Uh, some different pod events like podcast accountability group and our weekly newsletter cause I can't completely detached cause I love all this stuff's too much. All of this actually brought up something that we don't.

[00:05:46] I don't think I've heard much in the podcasting groups that I'm in, and that is physically what do we do to stay comfortable and healthy while we're podcasting? I know people say, get up and move around, drink a lot of water, that kind of thing. But when I started asking podcasters, Hey, seriously. What kind of chair do you use?

[00:06:05] I got more giggles than anything else. It's really inspired me to do a special episode on the global podcasting show that geo pets has. Asking that very question, what is your physical setup? I don't want to talk about your tech. I want to talk about your physical. Set up. Not everybody who podcasts has access to comfortable office chairs physically.

[00:06:25] How do we not put our physical bodies in pain while we record the things that we desperately want to send out into the world? Anyway, thank you for the question. Again, this is Stephanie Fujio from the geo Pat's podcast. All my stuff can be found at www dot Steph Puccio, S T E P H F, U C C, I o.com. Thank you.

[00:06:48] Evo Terra: [00:06:48] Big thanks to Latitia and to Stephanie for sharing their stories. Hopefully you found them inspirational. Let's talk about me. I it is the 300th show. After all I should find or an episode, I should find a little bit of time to talk about myself, but as I said, I want to talk about my health. As a podcast or under the lockdown.

[00:07:06] So far so good. Those of you who've been listening for a while know that we had a bit of a fever scare, but that seems to have gone away. So I don't, I don't think we, uh, maybe we never even had it. So I think we're fine from that point of view. Um, but here's the weird thing. Um, I'm only eating one meal a day.

[00:07:29] What's up with that this week, the last three days, I have only eaten lunch. Now I normally skip breakfast anyhow, but then I had a, I don't think it's a huge lunch, but then when dinner time comes around. I'm not hungry. I am not hungry. My body says, you do not put any food in here. I am totally full. So I think it's just sick and tired of all of the crap that I have been feeding it for the five weeks prior to this.

[00:08:00] That's just simply saying, no, you don't need any more. And maybe that's good because my body, you're saying, dude, I am the heaviest. I've been in a long time. Let's not do this anymore. Okay. And if so, cool. Ah, that's great. I'm glad my body figures that out, but I dunno. Other than that, things are fine.

[00:08:18] Hopefully things are fine for you. Business is good for me. Hopefully business is good for you. I know business is not good for a lot of people and I am very sorry if that is the case. Listen, I've said this before and I'll say it again. If you're struggling with your podcast during the pandemic, during the lockdown and you just need a nudge, you need some help.

[00:08:35] You need whatever you need, you have me, please. You will not be. Uh, impinging upon our friendship or whatever. If you just email me out of the blue, a few people have, and it's been great. I like it when podcasts are sending me emails and say, Hey, would you mind helping me try and think through something I've loved doing it.

[00:08:56] Genuine free offer, no strings attached. Please, if you have questions, if you're stuck on something, if you're not sure what you should do, let me know. I, I'm, I'm here to help. That's what I want the show to be. Speaking of shows that I mentioned, it's the 300th episode, which would be a good reason for you.

[00:09:12] It's not a good reason for you, but that was a bad segue, but I'm going to roll with it. Hey, tell one person about podcast pontifications like physically tell them, send them an email and say, dude, or dudette or. Hey there, you should be listening to this program. It is really amazing. It makes a huge difference when you reach out personally to someone.

[00:09:30] I love the retweets. I love you sharing it on social, but if you send one person a message, it really works to tell them to listen to the program. That's it. Have a fantastic rest of your Thursday. Enjoy your Friday because I don't do episodes on Fridays. Law ugly weekend, hopefully for everyone, be well and I'll see you back on Monday for yet another podcast.

[00:09:49] Pontifications cheers.

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