Ritti Singh: A Door Knocker Is Not Hitting 250 People

Someone with 1,500 followers who reliably gets 250 people engaging is a person who can move 250 people — and a door knocker isn't reaching that many in an hour. Narrative strategist Ritti Singh explains how New York's tenant movement built a surround sound communications machine, and what any advocacy organization can take from it.

Ritti led communications for Housing Justice for All and the New York State Tenant Bloc, including the Freeze the Rent campaign in New York City's 2025 mayoral race. She talks with Pete Altman about why debunking the right's squatter narrative failed, why message discipline has to start in your own internal meetings, how "tenants are the majority" turned a policy demand into an identity, and her four-step framework: map, seed, echo, invite.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Cold open
00:25 Introducing Ritti Singh
01:54 Communications is organizing
05:07 How the right runs surround sound
08:05 The squatter story: when debunking fails
12:35 Message discipline starts inside
14:25 Tenants are the majority
17:15 From wonk-speak to plain language
20:17 Mapping where people actually get information
23:02 Seeding content: WhatsApp forwards and trusted messengers
23:55 Making the ask
28:50 The $2.5 million moment
32:56 Where to start: map, seed, echo, invite
39:42 What you only learn by doing it
44:50 Authenticity vs. message discipline
50:26 Why comms and organizing can't be separate departments
52:56 Career advice

LINKS
Full episode and show notes: https://thecampaignstrategist.substack.com/p/ritti-singh-surround-sound-communications
Ritti's essay, Surround Sound Communications: https://convergencemag.com/articles/surround-sound-communications-how-to-build-a-narrative-machine/

Pete's essay "The System We Haven't Built" which cites Ritti and others: https://thecampaignstrategist.substack.com/p/the-system-we-havent-built?r=49slwa&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheCampaignStrategist

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