We’ve spent this week discussing themes that you can, and should, use to craft stories that will resonate with all listeners, no matter your format or target.

They are universal themes:

• The Quest

• The Love Story

• The Revenge Story

• The Rags to Riches Story

and today’s theme: The Stranger in a Strange Land Story.

This theme incorporates parts of most of the other story types, depending on the specifics.

It is the story of the immigrant who lives the American Dream, of course.

But it is also the story of the guy who lost his job last year and who has found a new way, in a new field; the woman who reinvented herself, went back to school and found a better job;

It’s the story of any of us facing anything new and unfamiliar and daunting, and finding a way to not only survive the challenge, but to thrive.

It is hopeful.

It is redemptive.

It is instructive.

And there are more stories with this theme in your town right now than ever before.

When you use universal themes in narrative form, you engage your listeners on an emotional level.

You give them a reason to bond with you, to remember you, to seek you out tomorrow.

And that’s a pretty powerful incentive to give this a shot.

If you need help on implementing any of these ideas, call me. This is what I do.