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Why I Podcast: La Toile sur Écoute
Why I Podcast: La Toile sur Écoute
Tapping into the minds of Acast podcasters from around the world to find out what podcasting means to them.
2022.09.30
Tell us about yourself and what your podcast is about.
Hello, I'm Penelope Boeuf, I'm 38 and a half years old (yes, I'm still using in halves), and I created my podcast studio La Toile sur Ecoute 3 (and a half) years ago.
I started with l'Arnaque, which are short chronicles about the life of a young Parisian thirty-something. Then I created Pique-Parole, 123Fiction, and a collection of "Crousti" — Crousti-Art, Crousti-Book, Crousti-History, Crousti-Celebrity.
There is also Allons enfants de l'Apathie, Jean-Michel Aphatie's podcast, and more recently the Power Angels.
I make my living by through the podcasts we produce for brands or for platforms like 21 Jours Sans on Amazon.
When did you get started in podcasting?
I started the adventure in 2019, I'd been in ten different jobs in communication, marketing, brand content but I didn't fit in. One day, while unemployed for the tenth time in my life, I had lunch with a friend who said: "Penelope, you have a voice, you're business, you love to tell stories, why don't you start your podcast studio?"
I thought that's not a bad idea, and I went for it.
Why did podcasting appeal to you in the first place?
I like to express myself with my voice, because I have always been told that I have a special voice. We make films in our minds when we hear a voice. You can imagine so many things about the person or story you're heard — you project, you fantasize, and so somewhere you dream. And I like that about podcasting.
What is it about podcasts that attracts storytellers and their listeners?
I really like the fact that anyone can make a podcast, and in any way they want. There are no rules. There are as many podcasts as there are podcasters. It's a matter of tone, personality and style. You can do what you want with it, and it's great not to be constrained.
For the listeners, the fact that it is a non-exclusive media is very attractive.
We can do something else at the same time, it's an alternative to screens, it forces the imagination, and surprisingly it calls for disconnection from the world.
We are alone with this voice that speaks to us and somehow it allows us to have time for ourselves.
What does podcasting means to you?
Please, don’t yell at me but I don't have the time to listen to many podcasts. I already do so much monitoring of what's out there for work. Podcasting has changed my life in the sense that I have to say that word at least fifty-five times a day. My entire vocabulary has changed, now I'm talking about hosts, streams, channels, episodes, thumbnails, CPMs, sponsorships, host-reads. Sometimes I feel like I've learned a new language.
It's also allowed me to meet great people like Jean-Michel Aphatie and the Power Angels. To know that everyday people are listening to your stories is fulfilling too.
How does podcasting fulfill you creatively?
Everything is possible in podcasting; so I try new formats, set myself challenges when I contact clients to offer them content that is out of the ordinary so that they stand out, but also to please myself because it makes me work on my creativity!
What advice do you have for someone who wants to start a podcast?
Go for it, even if you're afraid.
Try, fail, try again, and above all don't give up. At the beginning it's hard, it's long, it requires discipline, time, a little humility because at the beginning nobody listens to you, but if you stick to it and you're not afraid of doing something that looks like you, there's no reason it shouldn't work.
Wear your podcast on your head. Tell everyone you meet about it, wear it loud and clear so that everyone hears about it. No holds barred. Give it your all. It will work.