ur-grue Hook Generator
What This Skill Does
Write three opening hook options — one per style — for a YouTube video, podcast intro, or documentary opening. Each hook is 1–3 sentences and ready to use as-is.
When To Use This Skill
- You have a video, episode, or film topic and need to write the first 15–30 seconds
- You have a draft hook but want stronger alternatives before filming
- You want to test which angle creates the most tension or curiosity before committing to a shoot
What You Need To Provide
Required:
- Topic or premise in one to three sentences — what the video/episode is actually about
- Format: YouTube (long-form or Shorts), podcast, or documentary
Optional:
- Tone: serious journalism · popular science · entertainment (defaults to entertainment if not specified)
- Target audience: who this is for in one phrase (e.g., "first-time founders", "true crime listeners")
- A specific fact, statistic, or scene from your content that could anchor the hook
How the Assistant Approaches This
Identifies the core tension. Before writing, finds the single most compelling thing about the topic — the counterintuitive fact, the unexpected outcome, the stakes that make this worth watching. This becomes the raw material all three hooks draw from.
Writes one hook per style, each attacking the tension from a different angle:
- Provocative question — opens a knowledge gap the viewer needs to close. Does not ask rhetorical questions that answer themselves. The question should make the audience feel a personal stake.
- Surprising statistic or fact — leads with a specific, counterintuitive number or detail. The specificity is what creates credibility and curiosity. Avoids vague superlatives.
- Bold declarative claim — makes a confident, slightly controversial statement that reframes how the viewer thinks about the subject. Earns its confidence; does not bluster.
Adapts register to tone. Serious journalism hooks are measured and authoritative — they earn credibility without sensationalism. Popular science hooks trade in wonder and accessibility. Entertainment hooks lead with personality, energy, or a visual provocation. If the input tone is ambiguous, the assistant matches the most common register for the format.
Respects the format. YouTube hooks prioritize visual provocation and pattern interrupts. Podcast hooks rely entirely on language and often work best when they are conversational and surprising. Documentary openings can sustain a slower build — a declarative statement of place or time followed by a pivot.
Recommends the immediate next step. After delivering the hooks, specifies which to film or record first, and which related skill to use next (seo-title-optimizer to align the title, thumbnail-concept-brief to translate the hook's visual energy, or full-script-writer to expand).
Output Format
Three labeled hook options. Each hook: 1–3 sentences, no more. No preamble, no rating, no explanation — just the hooks. After the three options, one line of practical guidance on which style tends to work best for the given format and tone. Output ends with a one-line "Next Step" specifying the immediate action: which hook to lead with and which skill to run next.
**Option 1 — Provocative Question**
[Hook text]
**Option 2 — Surprising Statistic**
[Hook text]
**Option 3 – Bold Claim**
[Hook text]
---
*Guidance: [One sentence on which option best fits this format/tone and why.]*
Quality Criteria
- Each hook opens a knowledge gap — the viewer genuinely needs to keep watching to close it
- The surprising statistic option uses a specific figure or detail, not a vague claim
- No hook uses the phrase "in this video" or announces what the content will cover
- Tone matches the specified register (journalism / popular science / entertainment)
- Each option is genuinely distinct — not a rephrasing of the others
- Output fits the format: YouTube punchiness, podcast conversational pull, or documentary deliberateness
- Guidance note is specific and actionable, not generic
- Output includes at least one concrete next action the user can take immediately (which hook to use and what to do next: film it, run seo-title-optimizer, or open full-script-writer)
Example
Input
Topic: A deep-dive YouTube video about why most personal finance advice is designed for a demographic that no longer exists — the single-income household with a stable job and a pension.
Format: YouTube long-form (20–25 minutes)
Tone: Serious journalism
Audience: People in their 30s and 40s who feel financially behind despite doing everything they were told to do
Output
Option 1 — Provocative Question What if the reason you feel financially behind isn't that you're doing something wrong — but that you're following advice written for a version of the economy that ended in 1989?
Option 2 — Surprising Statistic The most-cited personal finance framework in the English-speaking world was designed in an era when 62% of households had a single income, a defined-benefit pension, and a job they expected to keep for 30 years. That era ended before most of you started working.
Option 3 — Bold Claim Most personal finance advice isn't broken. It's just optimized for someone who doesn't exist anymore — and using it without understanding that assumption will cost you.
Guidance: For serious journalism aimed at this audience, Option 2 works hardest: the specific statistic signals research and authority, which earns trust before making the larger argument. Option 1 is strongest if the tone edges toward editorial or opinion.
Known Limitations
- The skill cannot verify statistics. If you supply a specific figure in your input, it will use it. If you don't, the surprising statistic option may construct a plausible-sounding one that requires fact-checking before filming.
- For topics where the core tension is genuinely obscure or highly technical, the hooks may be accurate but abstract — provide one concrete detail from your research to give the assistant something specific to anchor to.
- Documentary hooks benefit significantly from knowing the opening scene or image. Without that, this skill generates language-only hooks that may need visual adaptation.
Related Skills
- seo-title-optimizer — write the title after locking the hook angle
- thumbnail-concept-brief — translate the hook's visual energy into a thumbnail direction
- full-script-writer — write the complete script once hook and title are confirmed
- intro-outro-writer — podcast-specific intro/outro writing