Engineering trust requires repeated exposure and establishing a shared baseline of values
Lulu Cheng Meservey · How To Build A Cult | Lulu Cheng Meservey · Sep 16, 2025 · at 29:38
Communications strategist Lulu Cheng Meservey explains to Shane Parrish the foundational psychological mechanics behind building audience and interpersonal trust.
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“One is repeated exposure. So in order to trust somebody, first you have to have a sense of who they are. Like you won't, you wouldn't trust a stranger. You wouldn't trust a mystery man. So one is you have to know who are they? They have to show up enough for you get a, for you to get a sense of you actually know them and they're not a total stranger to you. It's hard to trust a stranger. But it's easy to trust even a stranger that you have a parasocial relationship with because they're not a stranger. There are people that you've never met in your life who would trust you because to them you're not a stranger. So first is just become not a stranger. Second is establish a set of shared values.”
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