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• Richard Oglesby crafted a powerful character story for Abraham Lincoln in 1860 that resonated with voters and helped launch Lincoln to the presidency.
• Oglesby portrayed Lincoln as a "railsplitter" - a self-made man who had done hard manual labor and could relate to working-class voters, despite now being an accomplished speaker and candidate.
• A well-crafted character story allows a candidate to showcase their values, passion, professional qualifications, and personal growth in a way voters can connect with. It humanizes the candidate.
• Three effective types of character stories for candidates to consider are:
• Passion stories about their drive to serve
• Professional stories highlighting the ability to get things done
• Personal stories about overcoming challenges that shaped them
• Effective character stories focus on a transformative experience and follow a clear beginning, middle, end structure in 1-2 minutes. Jump into the action and conclude with the insight gained.
• Candidates should reflect on proud moments, challenges overcome, and lessons learned to find potential stories. Keep stories concise, practice delivery, and ensure they feel authentic and genuine. Test with others and refine as needed.

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