Shared publicly as a case study from the Polaris Pixels AI Playbook (polarispixels.com/ai-playbook). Use it as a model for your own documents, not a template to copy.
Document type: Messaging foundation
Version: 1.0
Last updated: September 29, 2026
Supersedes: storybrand-low-cognitive-load-reference-v1.md (September 12, 2026). That file summarized Donald Miller's StoryBrand books, which any drafter already knows. This file is the campaign's own filled-in version.
Every piece of voter-facing communication should be traceable to this story. The voter is the hero. Ryan is the guide. Facts come from briefing-book-v4.md; approved and retired language comes from candidate-briefing-context-v4.md.
The story
The hero. A Delaware County resident, usually a parent or a homeowner, who chose this county on purpose and wants it to stay a place worth choosing.
What they want. Roads that keep up, a tax bill they understand, and a county their kids can afford to stay in.
The problem.
- External: traffic on US 23 and 36/37 that gets worse every year, property tax bills that keep climbing, starter homes their kids can't afford, and data centers showing up with questions about water, noise, and power.
- Internal: a sense that the county is growing faster than anyone is planning for, and that nobody is showing them the math.
- Philosophical: families shouldn't pay for growth nobody planned, and big decisions shouldn't get made where nobody is watching.
The guide.
- Empathy: Ryan lives in Genoa Township, is raising his family here, and sees the same traffic and the same bills.
- Authority: he sits in the commissioners' meetings so residents don't have to and reports back in plain language. He spent eight years building the systems behind a company that grew from a startup to 350 locations. He knows the budget number ($163.5 million) and what the office does and doesn't control.
The plan. Three steps, told as what Ryan will do:
- Publish the numbers. A public 10-Year Growth Impact Forecast, updated every year, so every township, city, and village plans against the same facts.
- Fund it before you build it. Use the tools Ohio law actually allows (sewer capacity charges, New Community Authority charges, TIFs) so growth pays its share.
- Report back in public. Hearings instead of consent-agenda votes on big contracts, and plain-language reporting on what the county spends and why.
The call to action.
- Direct: vote for Ryan (early voting opens October 6; Election Day is November 3). Volunteer. Donate.
- Transitional: take the survey at ryangrissinger.com/survey, follow the meeting-report videos, subscribe to the newsletter.
The stakes, if nothing improves. Roads fall further behind the rooftops. Bills keep rising without anyone showing where the money goes. Decisions get made on the consent agenda without residents in the room. Kids who grew up here can't afford to stay.
The success picture. A county where your commute doesn't get worse every year, you can see the numbers before the vote, and your kids can buy their first home ten minutes from yours.
The one-liner
Delaware County is one of the fastest-growing counties in Ohio. I'm running for commissioner so that growth is planned and paid for, and our kids inherit a county that's even better than the one we have today.
Use it in the elevator pitch, event introductions, bios, and anywhere a stranger needs to know in one breath who Ryan is and why he's running.
Cognitive load rules
- The grunt test: within five seconds a stranger can tell what Ryan wants and what to do next.
- One primary call to action per piece, repeated if the piece is long.
- The voter's problem in the voter's words. "Fix the roads" beats "invest in infrastructure modernization."
- Lead with values and outcomes. Link to the policy detail for people who want it.
- Short sentences, short paragraphs, eighth-grade reading level. That is clarity, not dumbing down.
- If a supporter can't repeat it to a neighbor, it's too complicated.
- Biography belongs on the About page, at forums, and in long-form press, not above the fold.