hooks are one of the most important parts of your video to reel the audience in and keep them watching till the end but hey a lot of the advice out there makes riding a hook seem so complicated when the truth is hooks actually pretty simple when you know what really matters if you just give me 12 minutes I'll give you five techniques to write captivating hooks but before we dive in let me show you a quick example of how the top YouTubers write their hooks here's how Mr Beast opened his most viral video of 2024
I've gathered 50 of the biggest YouTubers on the planet and whichever one lasts the longest in this cube with that million dollars for their subscribers in the first 5 Seconds of the video Mr Beast confirms to the viewer that they're going to get exactly what they clicked for this is important because your title and thumbnail sets expectations in your viewer's mind and if the viewer senses that your video won't be able to deliver on that promise then they'll simply click off and watch another video top educational and entertainment YouTubers use this exact principle when someone
clicks on this video the title sets expectation that Alex is going to show you the exact road map on how to become a millionaire and what's the first thing that he says in the video this is the blueprint to making your first million dollars see he doesn't waste any time talking about some random backstory instead he shows you right away that you're going to get exactly what you clicked for a big mistake that most YouTubers make is that they try to get clever by using an indirect hug and go into this long backstory that the
viewer doesn't care about and only once they've wasted 90 seconds on the hook do they go back to the main content of the video you might have seen this on some storytelling channels but this simply leads to the audience losing interest within the first 30 seconds and clicking away and your retention graph will look something like this because this is the harsh truth when it comes to YouTube nobody cares about you most of your viewers will come from the homepage and when they decide to click on your video while they're scrolling the homepage that's because
your title and thumbnail stands out and within the first 30 seconds you have to hook them in and show them why important to watch you and the job of your hook is to confirm the click within the first 5 Seconds of the video nothing more nothing less but confirming the click is just the first step to riding a banger hook the top YouTubers use this NYX technique to virtually brainwash their viewer into watching the video from start to finish and once you master this technique your retention Curve will go from looking like this to this
look at the hook from this video from reendo In the first 10 seconds he says this one sentence which immediately creates a sense of curiosity but there's a fast and easy way to defeat over stimulation instantly with this science-based protocol you can make focused work itself as addictive and exciting social media now your brain automatically wants to know what is this science-based protocol is it actually fast and easy and will it really make work as fun as scrolling social media all these questions in the viewer's mind is what I call an open loop so instead
of stating facts and numbers like you normally do in a blog ran creates a curiosity Gap in the viewer's mind that needs to be filled and it's only once this open loop is closed will a viewer feel satisfied this open loop trick works so well because when we notice a piece of missing information Alber simply won't stop thinking about it until we find the answer curiosity is the itch that your content promises to scratch the stronger the itch the more likely viewers are to stay to the end so you want to script a compelling open
loop in your hook but where most creators go wrong is that they try to create an open loop by being vague and saying oh you won't believe what happened next this one hack changed everything these phrases are so over the top dramatic that they immediately set your viewers BS detector off and you don't want that your hook should give just enough detail to grab the viewers attention but also leave them hanging to want to watch more an easy way to build Intrigue in your hook is to use what I call the compare contrast curiosity technique
let me show you how it works if we look at this video from mag nades media that got over 11 million views the video starts like this if you look at the world's most valuable companies you won't be surprised to find the likes of Apple Microsoft and gole go go they start off by creating relatability because the names that he mentioned are familiar to the audience this is the compare stage but then he introduces a surprising Twist by saying one name does stand out 10 cent this builds curiosity in the viewer's mind especially if you
haven't heard about 10cent before and this is the open loop it makes the viewer wonder what does 10cent actually do why is it so successful and why do so few people know about it and now that the viewer has been hooked in he hits them with the knockout punch by saying the company is worth more than the likes of Facebook MasterCard and Samsung the contrast of this relatively unknown company making more than all of these well-known Brands breaks a belief in the viewer's mind and makes them wonder who the hell 10cent is a true masterclass
in building curiosity in under 30 seconds but what most YouTubers don't realize is that the viewers clicking on your video are asking themselves one question in their head and if you don't answer this question in your hook your viewer will immediately click away no matter how strong of an open loop you've created think about your favorite action movie of all time maybe it had the main character running through the streets of New York with his dog while every assassin in the city was out to kill him or maybe the world was on the verge of
a nuclear war and it was up to the main character and his team to stop the war from taking place it wasn't the star power or the fancy cinematography that made this story stand out it wasn't even the Curiosity of what would happen next the key was that these movies all had clear Stakes Stakes are what characters have the gain or lose and why the audience should be invested and care about the outcome whether it's the fate of the universe hanging on the balance or someone's dog getting killed or just whether two people will end
up together something or the other is on the line and your YouTube videos need the exact same thing every YouTube video is a mini story every story needs stakes in every Mr Beast video he clearly sets the stakes in the hook by saying something like 100 people inside of a giant Circle and whoever leaves the circle last wins $500,000 and you can also set the stakes in educational no videos someone in the business space who's a genius at setting Stakes is imong gaji just look at the first 10 seconds of this video you know I
just remember day after day coming downstairs and just seeing my mom clip those coupons and I just remember thinking like no like this is not this is not going to be my life in 10 seconds he said a clear intention to buy his mom a house and he also makes clear that the obstacle is that well he's broke and with the intention and the obstacle the stakes are clear if he doesn't get rich and buy Mama house he'll go homeless and he'll never amount to anything in just one clip he created personal stakes and made
you emotionally invested in his journey a common misconception that most YouTubers have is that in order to set Stakes you need millions of dollars or put 50 YouTubers into a cube but if you go back to the start of this video where I said a lot of the advice out there makes writing hook seem so complicated when the truth is Hook's actually pretty simple when you know what really matters if you just give me 12 minutes I'll give you five techniques to write captivating hooks the stakes are that you can either spend months trying to
figure out how to write a banner hook on your own or you can spend 10 to 11 minutes watching this video to learn these proven Frameworks so if you run an educational Channel you can set the stakes by showing the viewer a contrast between where they are and where they want to be and how your video is the solution for them to get there you want to show the viewers exactly what they stand to gain and what they stand to lose from watching your video and that's how you set stakes in educational and entertainment videos
but hold on everything that we covered about hooks till this point is completely ineffective if you don't know about this next crucial element in fact this is the most important technique of all because without it viewers won't actually believe that you can deliver on the promise that you're making let me explain when viewers open YouTube they're immedately bombarded with hundreds of videos on their feet and for every topic that you're covering there are probably dozens of other creators creating the exact same content so the question in their mind isn't just is this video worth watching
but instead it's about why should I watch your video about this topic and this is where establishing your uniqueness is is important and the best way to do that is by establishing credibility look at how Alex mosy does this in all of his videos he doesn't start the video with oh here's how to grow a business instead he opens with cross $100 million in net worth by age 32 I sold my first big company for 46.2 million or take just in s for example when he makes videos about studying he often starts with now these
principles have worked not only for me but for thousands of Learners that I've taught this to from around the world so they will work for you too in the first 30 seconds it's important to let the viewer know who you are and they do this not to brag or Flex to Their audience but to give them a compelling reason to trust them over watching someone else's video and no you don't need to build a $100 million portfolio in order to establish credibility it could be as something as simple as helping three clients lose 30 PBS
or in my case writing scripts for the top educational creators all across YouTube and if you don't have credibility in your achievements within your industry you can make it up by creating credibility through your time input so if you're a beginner your thumbnail designer you can spend 1,000 hours researching all of the best thumbnails across YouTube or if you're running a Food Channel you can test 50 cooking hacks and document all of your learnings whatever it is you need to show your viewers why they should listen to you you need to show viewers why you
can solve their problems you want to condense your credibility into a oneliner and deliver it in your hook every single time but even if you've scripted your hook to Perfection there's one final element that could make or break your hook I want you to think about why viewers come to YouTube in the first place I don't know about you but I personally open YouTube when I'm about to have dinner or when I want to relax before a bed most people come to YouTube as a form of escapism you need to bring the energy in your
hook so that your viewer gets excited and wants to watch more of your video most educational creators think that people come to their Channel Just for information but if your viewers want information they would just talk oneon-one with Chad GPT in some capacity even if it's like 10 or 20% of their intention your viewers want to be entertained too they're looking fall tree they're looking for energy entertainment and emotion they're looking to feel something so you definitely don't want to come off as a boring robot now I'm not saying that you need to get in
front of the camera and stop yelling into your mic that's not what I'm saying the reason Alex M's business advice hits different it's not because he's super ultra hyped and over the top on the camera but because he has an intense focused energy that exudes that he's actually able to help you crew your business and that he owns a multi-million dollar portfolio similarly if you watch a video from Ali abdal you're not going to find him screaming into the camera instead here has a calm suiting presence that kind of makes it feel like you're talking
to a friend you need to understand why your viewers wouldn't want to click on your video are they looking to be entertained are they looking to find a solution to their problem or is it a mix of both is it 20% entertainment 80% information or is it 40% 60% you need to understand that from your ideal viewer and once you figure that out you want to follow this treep checklist that will allow you to nail your energy in front of the camera the first and perhaps the most important step is to choose music that allows
L with the energy of your video my good friend Lyndon from amplify views does a great job at picking music that matches the energy of his hook I took this channel from 0 to 1,000 subscribers in only 30 days using a simple strategy that works for literally anyone and in the next 10 to 20 minutes I'm going to show you how to actually grow a Channel with zero subscribers you can see Quick Cuts upbeat music and perfect pacing throughout the hook of this video your music choice can either make or break your hook so make
sure to choose music that matches the vibe of your video topic once you've got the right music step two is to convey the emotion that you're trying to make your viewer feel if you want them to feel excited you can raise the pitch of your voice and increase your speaking speed and if you want them to feel relaxed you can slow down your speaking speed and lower your pitch and when you're speaking you want to make sure to incorporate pauses and put emphasis on important words that have certain meaning to the viewer and match your
speaking speed with the pace of the video that you want it to be and speaking of pace step three is to fine-tune your editing pace if you want to build excitement and intensity in Your Hooks go for quick Dynamic Cuts every 1 to two seconds but if you're covering something more serious or technical longer shots give the viewers more time to absorb and process what you're trying to say also use visuals that match the emotional journey of the viewer by using graphics and b-roll that support your message because here's the truth you could have the
most valuable and entertaining content in the world but if you deliver it like a sleepy sloth your viewer will never stay and watch till the end if you want to get my exact hook writing template click the link in the description and subscribe to my newsletter and I'll send it directly to your inbox this is exact hook template that I've used to write every single educational script that I've ever written and also just as important as understanding the techniques on how to write a hook is the exact mistakes to avoid and that's why I made
this video on the six most common intro mistakes it is screwing over your channel click over here to watch it and I'll see you in the next one
