Effective video hooks are crucial for performance, and they succeed by providing immediate topic clarity and targeted curiosity, avoiding four common pitfalls: delay, confusion, irrelevance, and disinterest.
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Today we're talking about hooks. If you
want your videos to perform better, you
need to focus on leveling up your hooks.
Now look, I've studied literally
thousands of videos. And it turns out if
your hooks are not working, there's only
four mistakes you could be making. If
you solve for these, your views will
skyrocket immediately. So, in this
video, I'm going to break all four of
them down. These are the four hook
mistakes holding back your videos with
tactical examples and tips for how to
fix each of them. By the way, I'm
Callaway. I have a million followers.
I've done billions of views. and content
is all I do all day long. All right, now
before I walk through the four main
mistakes you're making with your hooks,
let's just quickly talk about what a
winning hook actually looks like.
Understanding this one thing will help
you a ton. Hooks really only have one
job, to help a viewer decide to opt in
and continue watching the video. The
hook needs to stop the scroll and get
the viewer to stay put. It's very
simple. Now, in order to get the viewer
to opt in and stay put, the hook only
has to give them two things: topic
clarity and ontarget curiosity. Topic
clarity means the viewer has a crystal
clear understanding of what the video is
going to be about. And on target
curiosity means that they believe the
topic is for them. The video will give
them some value and they have general
curiosity on what comes next. So all the
hook needs to do is drive those two
points home. If you do this these two
things, you win. I guarantee the viewer
will be hooked. Now, of course, the
million-dollar question is this. How do
I make sure that every time I make a
hook, the viewer gets those two things,
topic clarity and ontarget curiosity?
And this really is where the four
horsemen hook mistakes come in. The
reason bad hooks flop and don't deliver
those two things is because you're
making one or more of these four
mistakes. If you fix all four of these,
you'll be good to go. All right, the
first hook mistake is called delay. And
the good news is this one is the easiest
one to fix. When I say delay, what I
mean is that the context on what the
video is going to be about is delayed
too long in the video. If you were to
visualize a script, let's say it has 13
lines and the third line is the first
time you introduce the topic. This is
delay because those first two lines are
fluff and unnecessary details. You need
to cut those first two lines, move the
third line up to the top so your topic
introduction can happen in the first 1
to 2 seconds. I often refer to this
concept as speed to value. You want to
increase the speed that the viewer can
get to clarity or get to value. Here's
an example of what bad delay looks like.
Let's say you start your video with
something like this. Guys, this is one
of the craziest things I've ever seen.
And when you see it, you're never going
to believe it. That is an example of a
legit hook that many people try to use
when they're beginners. Now, in theory,
this kind of sounds like it might be a
good hook because it's building suspense
and curiosity about what that thing is.
You might hear that and wonder, "What
did the creator see? I have to stick
around to find out." But the problem
with that sentence and generally hooks
like this is that it gives me as the
viewer zero context on what is coming
next. A crazy thing you saw could be
literally anything. So, if I have to
decide with my time if I want to keep
watching, I'm now unable to do it after
just that sentence because I don't have
the context. The typical chart for short
form video retention looks like this.
It's exponential decay. You see how
steep those first two seconds are going
down? That viewership falls off like a
cliff. Every second you go without
telling somebody what the video is
about, so they have the information to
decide to opt in, a large portion of
your viewers are bouncing. Now, certain
creators with these vague hooks are able
to get some people to stay. If you look
on Tik Tok specifically, it feels like
these type of vague open-ended hooks
work a lot. But the people that are
staying are only staying because of how
the creator looks, the emotion on the
creator's face, or the text hook that
they're putting on the screen. The
spoken words actually add zero value to
getting them to stay. So, it's not that
these types of open-ended vague hooks
can't ever work, it's just that they
work way less often. So, to recap, hook
problem number one is delay. And the fix
is to stop delaying the introduction and
the clarity of the context on the video.
Use that first sentence in as few words
as possible to give the context that the
viewer needs to have to decide whether
or not to opt in. An example of good
rapid context would be something like
this. Here are three simple ways to
improve your gut health or if you have
gut issues, these three remedies will
help you immediately. If you get those
hooks right away as the viewer, I know
exactly what these videos are going to
be about. Gut health and herbal remedies
that can help me solve it. There is zero
delay in the context and so I can opt in
as soon as possible. All right, hook
problem and mistake number two is
confusion. And when I say confusion,
what I really mean is comprehension
loss. So, in this case, the viewer is
just not understanding or comprehending
what you're saying. At this point,
you've eliminated the delay, which is
good, but the words you're using or the
phrasing of those sentences is just not
clear and it's confusing the viewer. So,
the problem here is really just a lack
of clarity in your words. And the reason
this is a problem is again, if the
viewer can't assess if this video is
actually for them because they're only
understanding like half the words you
say, then they have trouble deciding
whether or not to opt in. Here's an
example to illustrate exactly what I
mean by lack of clarity and confusion.
Imagine I started a hook like this.
These guys built a $30 million empire
and the online money they made is most
difficult to earn if you don't develop a
journaling practice like they did. And
this is a bit exaggerated obviously. Few
people actually talk like that, but you
get the point of how difficult and
confusing it was to actually parse
through what I was trying to say. If you
hear just that, you can kind of gather
the video is going to be about an online
business and maybe something to do with
journaling, but you're really struggling
to put the pieces together clearly
because of the way I framed the
sentence. And this is a classic clarity
issue. Instead, for that exact same
idea, you could write the hook like
this. These guys built a $30 million
empire and their secret for earning
money online was their insane journaling
practice. See how just changing the
words slightly and the way the sentence
is ordered makes it way easier to
understand what I'm saying. Essentially,
you as the viewer are able to absorb
more of the words. Your hit rate for
comprehension goes up and then confusion
goes down. Now, the tactics for how to
improve clarity is really about becoming
a better writer. You want to use fewer
words, but enough that the viewer can't
misunderstand you. You want to use
simpler words, ideally at a sixth grade
reading level. And you want to use
direct active voice instead of passive
voice on the sentences so they're easier
to understand. The dog jumped verse the
jump of the dog. Here are two quick tips
for immediately improving hook clarity
and reducing confusion. For the first
tip, you could just take the hook you've
written and drop it into chatbt or
claude with this prompt. I've written a
hook for a short form video about X
topic. I need help increasing the
clarity and the framing of the sentences
I used. I want the meaning to be the
exact same, but can you rewrite this in
a sixth grade reading level so that
there's no misunderstanding from the
viewer? This prompt will automatically
remix and rewrite the hook for you. You
could also just use sandcastle.ai, which
is my AI scriptw writing tool. You just
put the topic in and we'll write it for
you in a very clear way. All right, the
last tip for clarity proofing your hooks
would be to do this. When you read just
the hook, those one to two sentences in
isolation without anything else. Ask
yourself this question. Is it possible
for the viewer to misunderstand what I'm
saying in the wrong way? Is there more
than one way these sentences could be
interpreted? If so, rewrite the hook so
that you eliminate those alternative
understanding paths so there's only the
one that you want. All right. Now,
before I go on to the last two hook
mistakes, and these ones really are the
biggest, I just want to mention
something. I think becoming a master at
hooks is the single biggest lever you
can pull if you're trying to get your
content to perform better. Hooks are the
80 of the 8020 in the content flow. Now,
if you want to become god tier at hooks
and just write bangers every single time
without thinking about it, I just filmed
the most comprehensive training on short
form hooks ever created. So, if you make
Instagram reels, Tik Toks, LinkedIn
shorts, YouTube shorts, this will feel
like a cheat code for you. What I'm
covering in this video right now, it's
like 1 to 2% of the full hook playbook
that I give in this training. In that
training, I covered these things in
depth. One, hook psychology. How do
hooks actually work under the surface
and manipulate viewers' brains? Two,
what is my 10-minute cheat code hook
framework? Literally a checklist that
you can follow every single time you're
going to write a hook that works without
fail. And three, what are examples of
good and bad hooks from 11 different
categories and niches, breaking them
down, analyzing why the good ones are
good and why the bad ones are bad? I
also built a full hooks database with
over 400 different videos, deep tagging
across hook format, strategy, visuals,
text, audio, all the components. And I
built a system for analyzing that
database and then coming up with new
hooks for yourself. I literally went
out, found the best creators in every
niche, extracted their top videos,
analyzed their hooks, and then created
frameworks and patterns in that
database. I also in this training teach
the full research method that I use to
go look at other videos, extract their
hooks. How do I actually do that? How do
you find the top videos? I teach that
whole thing. Like I said, my goal was to
make this the undisputed god tier short
form hooks resource. So, if you like the
videos on my channel and most
importantly the way I break things down
and explain things, this training will
be the best way to go from zero to 100
on short form hooks, you watch this and
you'll be set. You can access it at the
link here or in the description. All
right, hook problem number three is
irrelevance. And at this point, so far
you have solved for the first two. So,
you've eliminated delay and you've
maximized the clarity, getting rid of
the confusion so the viewer knows
exactly what the video is going to be
about. Problem number three, irrelevance
means that the viewer is not confident
that what's coming next in the video
after the hook is going to be valuable
enough to help them solve a problem. So,
they know what the video is about, but
they're unclear if it's relevant for
them. Now, there are two easy ways to
solve this problem. The first way is to
say the word you or your instead of the
words me or I when you're delivering the
hook. Most people think you should make
hooks like this. I've struggled with
skin problems my whole life. The problem
is this opens a door in the viewer's
mind to question if they see themselves
in the creator because they're thinking
this, well, if you struggle with these
problems, do I also struggle with the
same problems you do? That's what
they're questioning in their mind. If
the viewer doesn't see themsel in the
creator for a number of different
reasons, they're going to put less value
in the incoming solution, and they'll
stop watching. This is the irrelevance
problem. The viewer doesn't feel like
what's coming next will be relevant for
them. So, to solve this problem, all you
have to do is frame your hooks using you
and your. So instead of saying, "I've
struggled with skin problems my whole
life," you say, "If you've struggled
with skin problems your whole life," dot
dot dot. When you do this, the viewer
feels like the video is targeted for
them. There's no possible question or
misunderstanding because you're saying
it's for you for your problems. And this
makes the viewer hold on longer for the
hook. Now, the second way to solve for
the relevance problem is to frame your
hooks around expected value. There are
two types of videos: entertainment and
education. Both of these offer solutions
to a painoint. That solution is value.
Entertainment offers a solve for
boredom. Education offers a solve for a
specific problem. If you want your hook
to feel more relevant for your viewer,
all you have to do is agitate a painoint
that they already have so that you can
tee up a solution that is for them. For
example, can you tell the difference
between these two hooks? The first one
is these are three common trends in
skincare. And the second one is if you
struggle with acne, try these three
things. Learning about trends in
skincare is a nice to have. Solving my
acne problem is a need to have. So, if
you frame the hook around a known
painoint and you deliver it using you
and your instead of me and my, the video
will seem more targeted for the viewer
and it will hook them more. Okay, the
last hook problem number four is
disinterest. And this is the one that
most people fixate on the most. At this
point, the viewer is clear on the topic,
believes there is some relevance or
value incoming for them, but the hook
still just doesn't grab them enough.
This is the curiosity problem. The hook
just doesn't make the viewer curious
enough to want to keep watching. So,
what you want to do in the hook to solve
the disinterest problem is build a
curiosity loop. And everybody talks
about curiosity loop, but nobody ever
explains what it is. A curiosity loop is
when the viewer sees something, asks a
hypothetical question in their mind,
gets some additional context to answer
it, but that spurs a new question, more
context, new question, more context, and
so on. They keep opening loops
throughout the entire video. That's what
a curiosity loop really is. So, your job
in the hook is to open that initial
curiosity loop and start the spiral.
What is that initial question that the
viewer has where they can't look away?
They just have to wait for more context
to answer it. So, the $10 million
content question really is this. How do
you always drive curiosity and build
that curiosity loop every single time,
no matter what type of video you're
making? And the way you do this is by
setting up contrast or comparison in the
hook. Contrast is simply the distance
between the current common belief of the
viewer and some contrarian or
alternative perspective that you offer.
So, for example, if I say in the hook,
this one trick will clear up all your
acne in 45 minutes without any side
effects. What I'm really doing is
creating a comparison in your mind to
the current baseline. You got to wait 6
months, take Accutane, go through all
these side effects versus my contrarian
offer, 45 minutes, no side effects,
quick solve. That distance is contrast.
What happens when you do this in the
viewer subconscious is that when you
frame a comparison, A something they
know and B something they don't, B
triggers the sticky pain point they have
from A not solving their pain. And so
essentially that comparison acts as a
reagitator of that painoint which gets
them curious because they want to solve
it. To simplify all this, if you're not
following what I'm saying, it's A versus
B. A is what they already believe. B is
some alternative that you're suggesting
that makes their pain point solved
faster, better, or cheaper. Now, getting
good at learning how to create this
contrast with words is really the secret
to driving curiosity whenever you want.
It's honestly the secret to storytelling
at a macro level. Now, I'm not going to
go too deep into exactly how to build
this contrast and curiosity because it
really does differ for every scenario.
But what I will say is this, there are
two types of contrast. Implied contrast
and stated contrast. Stated contrast is
when you share verbally both A and B
explicitly. So, for example, saying
something like this, "Most people solve
their acne with Accutane, but I have an
herbal remedy that does it three times
faster." You're stating Accutane verse
herbal remedy, so it's impossible to
miss what that contrast is. The other
type of contrast, which is way more
subtle, is implied. And in this case,
you say what the contrarian alternative
is, but you don't reference the base
because it's implied. People know what
the base solution is. So for example, if
I say if you want to solve your acne,
this herbal supplement is eight times
more effective. If the common viewer
already knows what the baseline
solutions are, nothing, Accutane,
whatever they are, then you don't need
to say it again because it's implied
what their baseline understanding is.
Essentially, it's your contrarian take
versus the field of all other options.
So you really have two options to create
the contrast. You can go stated, which
is way more blunt, A versus B,
impossible to misunderstand, or you can
go implied, which is a little bit more
savvy and you don't really call it out
specifically. Now, tactically, when
you're writing hooks, typically the
topic clarity comes in the first
sentence, and then you set up that
contrast in the following one to two
sentences. This is why I consider hooks
to really be like two to three lines.
They're not always just a single punchy
line. Sometimes you can achieve the
clarity and the contrast all together in
one line. And if you can, those are the
easiest hooks that you can reuse. Again,
if you want the full master class on how
to do this tactically, and you want a
bunch of examples of good and bad across
every niche, and you also want a
checklist to just follow every time you
make hooks, I have that all in the hooks
master class. It's linked below. All
right, guys. That is all I've got for
this video. As a recap, we covered the
four main hook mistakes that you're
making that are preventing your videos
from outperforming. Those mistakes are
delay, confusion, irrelevance, and
disinterest. As always, please leave a
comment below if you like this video,
and just in general for feedback. I'm
always reading the comments, trying to
take those and improve. So, if this gave
you value and you liked it or didn't
like it, please leave a comment and let
me know. And remember guys, there is a
ton of free stuff in the description.
I'm literally just giving away the
answers for content. Please check the
description. If you're struggling with
any of these pain points, there's always
something in the description to help
you. And lastly, one more thing. If
you're a business owner and you really
want help improving your content, I
created a free community of only
entrepreneurs and creators. There's over
22,000 people in there that are all
helping each other get better. There's a
bunch of free trainings. It's called
Wavy World. I got a free invite for you
in the description if you want to join
that. It's the easiest way to get
started. All right, with that, we will
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