The old communications playbook is dead: Political and company narratives used to be controlled by publicists and journalists. But now, founders can Go Direct. The question is… how? How do you spread a message in this new world? Lulu Cheng Meservey has worked with companies like Substack, Anduril, and Activision Blizzard, and this is her tell-all about how to build your own platform, build your own audience, and shape your own narrative. 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:32 Go direct 00:05:01 Beware of "perfect" writing 00:10:06 Ship-to-Yap ratio 00:15:20 Shaping a comms strategy 00:17:51 How to craft your message 00:22:57 Should you write with AI? 00:27:01 You don't need new ideas 00:32:13 Say what no one else will 00:35:20 The writing AI can't do 00:41:23 The power of the right messenger 00:47:31 Borrowing tactics from elections 00:55:12 Apple vs. crypto cults 01:02:38 How to launch your product 01:07:06 Stop making narcissistic announcements 01:09:55 What slogans work? 01:14:29 How to write an apology Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell
Lulu Cheng Meservey is the Chief Communications Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Activision Blizzard. She joins Infinite Loops to provide us with a masterclass in communications for startups. A must-listen for current and aspiring founders. Important Links: - Lulu’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/lulumeservey - Lulu’s Substack - https://lulu.substack.com/ Show Notes: [00:00:00] - Intro [00:02:00] - Main Podcast [00:04:00] - Why people write hit pieces [00:08:46] - The insurgency framework [00:13:08] - How to access your audience’s neural real estate [00:18:22] - How to develop a spontaneous elevator pitch [00:23:48] - Tips for becoming better at reading the room [00:28:56] - Speak directly and take the hits [00:32:41] - Defining business objectives [00:37:26] - Learning from other industries [00:41:01] - Personalising your message [00:50:56] - Overcoming resistance to the unknown, what Christianity can teach us about comms [01:05:55] - Escaping corporate jargon [01:11:57] - How comms resembles rugby [01:16:13] - Taking ownership of comms [01:21:48] - Moving to a new model of comms [01:29:18] - “Don’t let things happen to you. Go and happen to things.” Books Mentioned: - The Network State: How To Start a New Country; by Balaji S. Srinivasan - The Hero with a Thousand Faces; by Joseph Campbell
Lulu Cheng Meservey explains how to use the concentric circles framework to win the hearts and minds of your audience. 🎙️Find the full episode here: https://youtu.be/LTSEOeKV_Hs — On Lenny's Podcast, host Lenny Rachitsky interviews world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover concrete, actionable advice to help you grow your own product. 🔔 For more videos like these, subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/c/LennysPodcast?sub_confirmation=1 — Where to find Lenny: • Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/ • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
Lulu Cheng Meservey gives a masterclass on non-boring corporate communications, Korean pop culture, and religious fanaticism. Lulu shares what she’s learned running comms for startups, decoding cultural erogenous zones, and crafting impactful messages in 280 characters or less. Whether you're a writer, a communications professional, or simply curious about the intersection of K-POP and Internet whackos, this podcast is a window into modern communication. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:01 Intro 00:00:32 Why Lulu thinks that corporate communications exists 00:01:36 How Lulu avoids “corporate speak” 00:02:30 How do you write when anxiety and tension is high 00:03:20 Lulu’s process for creating corporate communications 00:04:34 How Lulu conveys emotion in writing 00:05:05 Do companies have a personality? 00:06:40 Do companies have a soul? 00:08:15 Lulu’s career path 00:09:15 Why Lulu throws down and Game Theory behind it 00:10:00 Tit for two tats 00:11:30 The art of good writing 00:12:20 Why media is so vicious 00:12:40 Why Lulu joined Substack 00:13:09 Lulu’s study of counter-insurgency 00:14:45 How Christianity shows us the most powerful story arc 00:16:35 Joe Rogan & distribution channels (Trade-off of quantity vs depth of audience) 00:19:00 Amazon’s Bezos “Focus on the customer” 00:20:00 How Lulu thinks about driving slogans 00:20:38 ABBA structure 00:21:10 The Behavioral Psychology of communications 00:21:50 David’s Law 00:22:30 Framing your offer 00:24:00 Cultural Erogenous Zones 00:25:25 API to make writing compatible with what people care about 00:25:41 Kamala Harris’s message about national defense vs. education 00:27:00 Lulu’s writing process and habits 00:28:20 How ancient Greek debate ideas 00:29:30 Why Lulu thinks that communicators should take more risks 00:32:30 Illusion of transparency 00:32:55 How Lulu works with editors 00:34:12 Twitter as a medium 00:35:20 Why it’s easier to defend others than yourself 00:36:25 Writing for your 5 year old 00:37:20 Between personal and corporate 00:38:48 Twitter growth tactics 00:40:09 Meet your people 00:40:50 Quality of audience 00:41:00 Jesus and 12,000 disciples 00:41:28 Substack and growth tactics 00:41:55 Lulu’s keys to a good newsletter 00:43:08 People with unique writing styles 00:44:20 Learning English 00:45:00 Lulu’s job interview misunderstanding 00:46:00 What Lulu is reading to improve her writing 00:47:50 Risk Management 00:53:00 Writer brain vs Friend brain 00:54:10 Washington D.C. 00:55:00 Different lenses of writing 00:56:00 Storytelling 00:57:00 Statistics & Accusations 00:58:30 Framing 00:59:00 How to use comms to grow a show 01:01:00 Crypto and AI 01:02:00 Distribution / podcasts 01:04:00 How to explain yourself to others 01:05:00 What we can learn from Bitcoin 01:06:25 K-Pop 01:07:20 Evangelism 01:09:40 Why Lulu is compelled to write SPEAKER: Lulu is currently the Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer at Activision Blizzard, and was formerly head of comms at Substack. Her newsletter “Flack” is a new playbook for communications, written to help you win over people who matter, without wasting time or being cringe. Lulu's Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lulumeservey Lulu's Newsletter: https://www.getflack.com WRITE OF PASSAGE: Want to learn more about the next class Write of Passage? Click here: https://take.writeofpassage.school/writing-sprints PODCAST LINKS: Website: https://writeofpassage.school/how-i-write/ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv ABOUT THE HOST: I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. How I Write is a podcast by Write of Passage // Production by Adam Soccolich
Lulu Cheng Meservey was formerly head of comms at Substack (where I host my newsletter and podcast) and is currently the Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer at Activision Blizzard. She also writes one of my favorite newsletters, “Flack,” where she shares tactical advice for company comms, PR, and messaging. In today’s episode, we dive deep into the world of PR and comms. We discuss why taking risks is crucial, how to gain attention as an underdog, and why it’s important to have a super-specific audience. Lulu outlines several frameworks I’d never heard of before, including a concentric circles framework for identifying your audience, the cultural erogenous zones, and even a physics-based framework for comms. — Brought to you by AssemblyAI—Production-ready AI models to transcribe and understand speech | Public—Invest in stocks, treasuries, crypto, and more | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security. Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/navigating-comms-and-pr-lulu-cheng Where to find Lulu Cheng Meservey: • Twitter: https://twitter.com/lulumeservey • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lulu-cheng-meservey/ • Newsletter: https://www.getflack.com/ Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ Referenced: • “Binders full of women”: Mitt Romney’s four words that alienated women voters: https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2012/oct/17/binders-full-of-women-romneys-four-words • Bill Bishop’s newsletter on Substack: https://www.sinocism.com/ • Hamish McKenzie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hamishmckenzie • The Network State: How to Start a New Country: https://www.amazon.com/Network-State-How-Start-Country-ebook/dp/B09VPKZR3G • How to increase virality: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/increasing-virality • Ryan Petersen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/typesfast • Brian Armstrong on Twitter: https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong • Palmer Luckey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PalmerLuckey • Pirate Wires: https://www.piratewires.com/ • NYX: https://www.nyxcosmetics.com/ • Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae: https://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/055338368X • The Last of Us on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-last-of-us • Notion: https://www.notion.so/ • Lex: https://lex.page/ In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Lulu’s background (04:36) What helps an idea spread (06:17) Mitt Romney’s “binders full of women” (07:19) Advice for coming up with contagious phrasing (08:36) Lulu’s esoteric reference that left her Twitter followers confused (11:08) The importance of taking risks, and Lulu’s thread on standing for free speech (12:53) An example of another sticky phrase (14:40) The cultural erogenous zones framework (16:08) How Kamala Harris made people care about education (17:29) How to get attention as the underdog (20:25) How Substack used the concentric circles framework to spread information (21:32) Understanding the layers in those concentric circles (25:44) How to get started figuring out your concentric circles (27:03) An example of aligning messaging with people’s values (28:19) Lulu’s mathematical formula framework for comms for a purpose (28:54) A physics-based framework for comms (35:56) How Balaji Srinivasan used the concentric circles approach with his book The Network State (39:46) The importance of a super-specific audience (41:12) Reasons your comms are failing (42:40) Why you should focus on one direct communication channel at first (46:58) Why not every founder needs to be on Twitter (48:02) Who LinkedIn works better for (49:23) Examples of messaging with a human voice and hopping on trends quickly (51:11) Reasons for direct comms (53:52) How to get started setting up a direct channel (56:09) Why consistent, good content is better than trying to go viral (59:28) Lightning round Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
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