bendemartin97 Hooks for the first two seconds
The hook decides whether the video gets watched at all. It always consists of two tracks at once: what's said and what's seen. A hook that's only a sentence isn't a hook.
Process
- If
FORMATS.mddefines a check formula, it applies — not the pattern list below. The patterns here are a toolbox for accounts without a proven formula of their own. Where one exists, it's data-based and beats any general heuristic. Then check every variant against the formula and discard whatever doesn't meet it. - Read
BRAND.mdandFORMATS.mdfrom the project knowledge. Target audience and tone determine which patterns even come into question. - Clarify the video's promise in one sentence: what does the viewer know or can do afterward that they couldn't before? All hooks must hint at exactly this promise.
- Generate ten variants across at least six different patterns. Not the same pattern ten times in different words.
- Give a recommendation and justify it in one sentence.
Patterns
| Pattern | Principle | Example form |
|---|---|---|
| Counter-thesis | Overturn a widespread assumption | "Everyone says you should do X. That's exactly what ruins Y." |
| Mistake | Viewer probably makes it themselves | "Your X becomes Y? Then you're probably doing this." |
| Number | Concrete quantity creates expectation | "Three reasons why X doesn't work." |
| Result first | Anticipate the end state | "This is what X looks like when you do Y right." |
| Insider | Knowledge that only comes from practice | "What nobody in the shop tells you:" |
| Direct address | Address the target audience directly | "If you do X and want Y – listen up for a second." |
| Cost | State a loss or price | "That cost me four hundred euros." |
| Open loop | Delay the answer, but announce it | "The difference comes down to a single move." |
| In medias res | Start in the middle of the action | Begins right in the motion, no preamble |
| Insider question | Question only the target audience understands | Technical term as a recognition signal |
Rules
- Twelve words maximum, spoken. Longer doesn't fit in two seconds.
- Concrete beats abstract. "Four hundred euros" beats "a lot of money," "fourteen hours" beats "too long."
- No preamble. Don't announce what's coming – start directly.
- The image has to pull its weight. Every hook comes with a visual idea that grabs attention on its own: movement, contrast, an unusual object, a face reacting.
- No unfulfilled promise. A hook that implies more than the video delivers costs reach on the next video.
Banned phrases
These are so worn out that they read as a signal for generic content:
"Attention!" · "Stop scrolling" · "This will change your life" · "Nobody talks about this" · "I wish I'd known this sooner" · "You won't believe what …" · "The ultimate guide" · any address to "guys" or "you all" as the first word
If a phrase from this list seems unavoidable in substance, it's usually the topic that's too unspecific, not the phrasing.
If BRAND.md contains its own banned list, that applies as well – it's always
more specific than this one. For regulated or specialist topics (health, finance,
law), content limits are added: no hook that promises a result, no number without
a source, no sharpened claim the video doesn't back up afterward.
Output format
First a table with all ten variants:
| # | Pattern | Spoken | Visual | Why it holds |
|---|
After that:
Recommendation: number X, because … Weakest candidate: number Y – keep only if …
If a variant overstretches the video's promise, flag it explicitly as risky instead of silently leaving it out.