0:01 Today we're talking about hooks. If you
0:03 want your videos to perform better, you
0:05 need to focus on leveling up your hooks.
0:07 Now look, I've studied literally
0:09 thousands of videos. And it turns out if
0:11 your hooks are not working, there's only
0:13 four mistakes you could be making. If
0:15 you solve for these, your views will
0:17 skyrocket immediately. So, in this
0:18 video, I'm going to break all four of
0:20 them down. These are the four hook
0:22 mistakes holding back your videos with
0:24 tactical examples and tips for how to
0:25 fix each of them. By the way, I'm
0:27 Callaway. I have a million followers.
0:29 I've done billions of views. and content
0:30 is all I do all day long. All right, now
0:32 before I walk through the four main
0:34 mistakes you're making with your hooks,
0:35 let's just quickly talk about what a
0:37 winning hook actually looks like.
0:38 Understanding this one thing will help
0:41 you a ton. Hooks really only have one
0:43 job, to help a viewer decide to opt in
0:45 and continue watching the video. The
0:47 hook needs to stop the scroll and get
0:48 the viewer to stay put. It's very
0:50 simple. Now, in order to get the viewer
0:52 to opt in and stay put, the hook only
0:54 has to give them two things: topic
0:57 clarity and ontarget curiosity. Topic
0:59 clarity means the viewer has a crystal
1:01 clear understanding of what the video is
1:03 going to be about. And on target
1:05 curiosity means that they believe the
1:07 topic is for them. The video will give
1:08 them some value and they have general
1:11 curiosity on what comes next. So all the
1:13 hook needs to do is drive those two
1:15 points home. If you do this these two
1:17 things, you win. I guarantee the viewer
1:18 will be hooked. Now, of course, the
1:20 million-dollar question is this. How do
1:22 I make sure that every time I make a
1:24 hook, the viewer gets those two things,
1:26 topic clarity and ontarget curiosity?
1:27 And this really is where the four
1:30 horsemen hook mistakes come in. The
1:32 reason bad hooks flop and don't deliver
1:34 those two things is because you're
1:36 making one or more of these four
1:37 mistakes. If you fix all four of these,
1:39 you'll be good to go. All right, the
1:41 first hook mistake is called delay. And
1:42 the good news is this one is the easiest
1:44 one to fix. When I say delay, what I
1:46 mean is that the context on what the
1:48 video is going to be about is delayed
1:50 too long in the video. If you were to
1:52 visualize a script, let's say it has 13
1:54 lines and the third line is the first
1:56 time you introduce the topic. This is
1:58 delay because those first two lines are
2:00 fluff and unnecessary details. You need
2:02 to cut those first two lines, move the
2:04 third line up to the top so your topic
2:06 introduction can happen in the first 1
2:08 to 2 seconds. I often refer to this
2:10 concept as speed to value. You want to
2:12 increase the speed that the viewer can
2:14 get to clarity or get to value. Here's
2:16 an example of what bad delay looks like.
2:17 Let's say you start your video with
2:19 something like this. Guys, this is one
2:20 of the craziest things I've ever seen.
2:21 And when you see it, you're never going
2:23 to believe it. That is an example of a
2:25 legit hook that many people try to use
2:27 when they're beginners. Now, in theory,
2:28 this kind of sounds like it might be a
2:31 good hook because it's building suspense
2:33 and curiosity about what that thing is.
2:34 You might hear that and wonder, "What
2:36 did the creator see? I have to stick
2:37 around to find out." But the problem
2:39 with that sentence and generally hooks
2:41 like this is that it gives me as the
2:43 viewer zero context on what is coming
2:45 next. A crazy thing you saw could be
2:47 literally anything. So, if I have to
2:49 decide with my time if I want to keep
2:51 watching, I'm now unable to do it after
2:52 just that sentence because I don't have
2:54 the context. The typical chart for short
2:56 form video retention looks like this.
2:58 It's exponential decay. You see how
2:59 steep those first two seconds are going
3:02 down? That viewership falls off like a
3:04 cliff. Every second you go without
3:05 telling somebody what the video is
3:07 about, so they have the information to
3:09 decide to opt in, a large portion of
3:11 your viewers are bouncing. Now, certain
3:13 creators with these vague hooks are able
3:15 to get some people to stay. If you look
3:17 on Tik Tok specifically, it feels like
3:19 these type of vague open-ended hooks
3:20 work a lot. But the people that are
3:23 staying are only staying because of how
3:24 the creator looks, the emotion on the
3:26 creator's face, or the text hook that
3:28 they're putting on the screen. The
3:30 spoken words actually add zero value to
3:32 getting them to stay. So, it's not that
3:34 these types of open-ended vague hooks
3:35 can't ever work, it's just that they
3:37 work way less often. So, to recap, hook
3:39 problem number one is delay. And the fix
3:42 is to stop delaying the introduction and
3:44 the clarity of the context on the video.
3:46 Use that first sentence in as few words
3:48 as possible to give the context that the
3:50 viewer needs to have to decide whether
3:52 or not to opt in. An example of good
3:53 rapid context would be something like
3:55 this. Here are three simple ways to
3:57 improve your gut health or if you have
3:59 gut issues, these three remedies will
4:01 help you immediately. If you get those
4:02 hooks right away as the viewer, I know
4:04 exactly what these videos are going to
4:06 be about. Gut health and herbal remedies
4:08 that can help me solve it. There is zero
4:10 delay in the context and so I can opt in
4:11 as soon as possible. All right, hook
4:13 problem and mistake number two is
4:15 confusion. And when I say confusion,
4:17 what I really mean is comprehension
4:19 loss. So, in this case, the viewer is
4:21 just not understanding or comprehending
4:23 what you're saying. At this point,
4:24 you've eliminated the delay, which is
4:26 good, but the words you're using or the
4:29 phrasing of those sentences is just not
4:31 clear and it's confusing the viewer. So,
4:32 the problem here is really just a lack
4:34 of clarity in your words. And the reason
4:36 this is a problem is again, if the
4:38 viewer can't assess if this video is
4:40 actually for them because they're only
4:41 understanding like half the words you
4:43 say, then they have trouble deciding
4:45 whether or not to opt in. Here's an
4:46 example to illustrate exactly what I
4:48 mean by lack of clarity and confusion.
4:50 Imagine I started a hook like this.
4:52 These guys built a $30 million empire
4:54 and the online money they made is most
4:56 difficult to earn if you don't develop a
4:57 journaling practice like they did. And
4:59 this is a bit exaggerated obviously. Few
5:00 people actually talk like that, but you
5:02 get the point of how difficult and
5:04 confusing it was to actually parse
5:06 through what I was trying to say. If you
5:07 hear just that, you can kind of gather
5:09 the video is going to be about an online
5:11 business and maybe something to do with
5:12 journaling, but you're really struggling
5:14 to put the pieces together clearly
5:16 because of the way I framed the
5:18 sentence. And this is a classic clarity
5:20 issue. Instead, for that exact same
5:22 idea, you could write the hook like
5:24 this. These guys built a $30 million
5:25 empire and their secret for earning
5:28 money online was their insane journaling
5:29 practice. See how just changing the
5:31 words slightly and the way the sentence
5:33 is ordered makes it way easier to
5:34 understand what I'm saying. Essentially,
5:36 you as the viewer are able to absorb
5:38 more of the words. Your hit rate for
5:40 comprehension goes up and then confusion
5:42 goes down. Now, the tactics for how to
5:43 improve clarity is really about becoming
5:45 a better writer. You want to use fewer
5:47 words, but enough that the viewer can't
5:49 misunderstand you. You want to use
5:51 simpler words, ideally at a sixth grade
5:52 reading level. And you want to use
5:54 direct active voice instead of passive
5:56 voice on the sentences so they're easier
5:58 to understand. The dog jumped verse the
6:00 jump of the dog. Here are two quick tips
6:02 for immediately improving hook clarity
6:04 and reducing confusion. For the first
6:06 tip, you could just take the hook you've
6:08 written and drop it into chatbt or
6:10 claude with this prompt. I've written a
6:12 hook for a short form video about X
6:14 topic. I need help increasing the
6:15 clarity and the framing of the sentences
6:17 I used. I want the meaning to be the
6:19 exact same, but can you rewrite this in
6:20 a sixth grade reading level so that
6:22 there's no misunderstanding from the
6:24 viewer? This prompt will automatically
6:25 remix and rewrite the hook for you. You
6:27 could also just use sandcastle.ai, which
6:30 is my AI scriptw writing tool. You just
6:31 put the topic in and we'll write it for
6:32 you in a very clear way. All right, the
6:34 last tip for clarity proofing your hooks
6:36 would be to do this. When you read just
6:38 the hook, those one to two sentences in
6:40 isolation without anything else. Ask
6:42 yourself this question. Is it possible
6:44 for the viewer to misunderstand what I'm
6:46 saying in the wrong way? Is there more
6:48 than one way these sentences could be
6:50 interpreted? If so, rewrite the hook so
6:52 that you eliminate those alternative
6:54 understanding paths so there's only the
6:55 one that you want. All right. Now,
6:57 before I go on to the last two hook
6:58 mistakes, and these ones really are the
6:59 biggest, I just want to mention
7:01 something. I think becoming a master at
7:04 hooks is the single biggest lever you
7:05 can pull if you're trying to get your
7:07 content to perform better. Hooks are the
7:09 80 of the 8020 in the content flow. Now,
7:11 if you want to become god tier at hooks
7:13 and just write bangers every single time
7:15 without thinking about it, I just filmed
7:17 the most comprehensive training on short
7:19 form hooks ever created. So, if you make
7:21 Instagram reels, Tik Toks, LinkedIn
7:23 shorts, YouTube shorts, this will feel
7:25 like a cheat code for you. What I'm
7:26 covering in this video right now, it's
7:29 like 1 to 2% of the full hook playbook
7:31 that I give in this training. In that
7:32 training, I covered these things in
7:34 depth. One, hook psychology. How do
7:36 hooks actually work under the surface
7:39 and manipulate viewers' brains? Two,
7:41 what is my 10-minute cheat code hook
7:43 framework? Literally a checklist that
7:44 you can follow every single time you're
7:46 going to write a hook that works without
7:48 fail. And three, what are examples of
7:51 good and bad hooks from 11 different
7:53 categories and niches, breaking them
7:54 down, analyzing why the good ones are
7:56 good and why the bad ones are bad? I
7:58 also built a full hooks database with
8:01 over 400 different videos, deep tagging
8:04 across hook format, strategy, visuals,
8:06 text, audio, all the components. And I
8:08 built a system for analyzing that
8:10 database and then coming up with new
8:11 hooks for yourself. I literally went
8:13 out, found the best creators in every
8:15 niche, extracted their top videos,
8:17 analyzed their hooks, and then created
8:18 frameworks and patterns in that
8:20 database. I also in this training teach
8:22 the full research method that I use to
8:24 go look at other videos, extract their
8:26 hooks. How do I actually do that? How do
8:28 you find the top videos? I teach that
8:29 whole thing. Like I said, my goal was to
8:32 make this the undisputed god tier short
8:33 form hooks resource. So, if you like the
8:34 videos on my channel and most
8:36 importantly the way I break things down
8:38 and explain things, this training will
8:40 be the best way to go from zero to 100
8:42 on short form hooks, you watch this and
8:44 you'll be set. You can access it at the
8:45 link here or in the description. All
8:46 right, hook problem number three is
8:48 irrelevance. And at this point, so far
8:50 you have solved for the first two. So,
8:52 you've eliminated delay and you've
8:54 maximized the clarity, getting rid of
8:55 the confusion so the viewer knows
8:56 exactly what the video is going to be
8:58 about. Problem number three, irrelevance
9:00 means that the viewer is not confident
9:02 that what's coming next in the video
9:04 after the hook is going to be valuable
9:06 enough to help them solve a problem. So,
9:07 they know what the video is about, but
9:09 they're unclear if it's relevant for
9:11 them. Now, there are two easy ways to
9:13 solve this problem. The first way is to
9:15 say the word you or your instead of the
9:18 words me or I when you're delivering the
9:19 hook. Most people think you should make
9:21 hooks like this. I've struggled with
9:23 skin problems my whole life. The problem
9:25 is this opens a door in the viewer's
9:27 mind to question if they see themselves
9:29 in the creator because they're thinking
9:30 this, well, if you struggle with these
9:32 problems, do I also struggle with the
9:34 same problems you do? That's what
9:35 they're questioning in their mind. If
9:37 the viewer doesn't see themsel in the
9:38 creator for a number of different
9:40 reasons, they're going to put less value
9:42 in the incoming solution, and they'll
9:44 stop watching. This is the irrelevance
9:45 problem. The viewer doesn't feel like
9:47 what's coming next will be relevant for
9:49 them. So, to solve this problem, all you
9:51 have to do is frame your hooks using you
9:53 and your. So instead of saying, "I've
9:54 struggled with skin problems my whole
9:56 life," you say, "If you've struggled
9:58 with skin problems your whole life," dot
10:00 dot dot. When you do this, the viewer
10:01 feels like the video is targeted for
10:03 them. There's no possible question or
10:04 misunderstanding because you're saying
10:06 it's for you for your problems. And this
10:08 makes the viewer hold on longer for the
10:10 hook. Now, the second way to solve for
10:12 the relevance problem is to frame your
10:14 hooks around expected value. There are
10:16 two types of videos: entertainment and
10:18 education. Both of these offer solutions
10:20 to a painoint. That solution is value.
10:21 Entertainment offers a solve for
10:24 boredom. Education offers a solve for a
10:26 specific problem. If you want your hook
10:27 to feel more relevant for your viewer,
10:30 all you have to do is agitate a painoint
10:31 that they already have so that you can
10:34 tee up a solution that is for them. For
10:35 example, can you tell the difference
10:37 between these two hooks? The first one
10:39 is these are three common trends in
10:41 skincare. And the second one is if you
10:42 struggle with acne, try these three
10:44 things. Learning about trends in
10:46 skincare is a nice to have. Solving my
10:48 acne problem is a need to have. So, if
10:50 you frame the hook around a known
10:52 painoint and you deliver it using you
10:54 and your instead of me and my, the video
10:56 will seem more targeted for the viewer
10:57 and it will hook them more. Okay, the
10:59 last hook problem number four is
11:01 disinterest. And this is the one that
11:03 most people fixate on the most. At this
11:05 point, the viewer is clear on the topic,
11:07 believes there is some relevance or
11:09 value incoming for them, but the hook
11:11 still just doesn't grab them enough.
11:13 This is the curiosity problem. The hook
11:15 just doesn't make the viewer curious
11:16 enough to want to keep watching. So,
11:18 what you want to do in the hook to solve
11:20 the disinterest problem is build a
11:22 curiosity loop. And everybody talks
11:23 about curiosity loop, but nobody ever
11:25 explains what it is. A curiosity loop is
11:27 when the viewer sees something, asks a
11:29 hypothetical question in their mind,
11:31 gets some additional context to answer
11:33 it, but that spurs a new question, more
11:35 context, new question, more context, and
11:37 so on. They keep opening loops
11:38 throughout the entire video. That's what
11:40 a curiosity loop really is. So, your job
11:42 in the hook is to open that initial
11:44 curiosity loop and start the spiral.
11:46 What is that initial question that the
11:48 viewer has where they can't look away?
11:49 They just have to wait for more context
11:51 to answer it. So, the $10 million
11:53 content question really is this. How do
11:56 you always drive curiosity and build
11:58 that curiosity loop every single time,
11:59 no matter what type of video you're
12:01 making? And the way you do this is by
12:04 setting up contrast or comparison in the
12:06 hook. Contrast is simply the distance
12:08 between the current common belief of the
12:10 viewer and some contrarian or
12:12 alternative perspective that you offer.
12:14 So, for example, if I say in the hook,
12:16 this one trick will clear up all your
12:18 acne in 45 minutes without any side
12:20 effects. What I'm really doing is
12:22 creating a comparison in your mind to
12:23 the current baseline. You got to wait 6
12:25 months, take Accutane, go through all
12:27 these side effects versus my contrarian
12:29 offer, 45 minutes, no side effects,
12:32 quick solve. That distance is contrast.
12:34 What happens when you do this in the
12:35 viewer subconscious is that when you
12:38 frame a comparison, A something they
12:40 know and B something they don't, B
12:42 triggers the sticky pain point they have
12:45 from A not solving their pain. And so
12:47 essentially that comparison acts as a
12:49 reagitator of that painoint which gets
12:51 them curious because they want to solve
12:53 it. To simplify all this, if you're not
12:55 following what I'm saying, it's A versus
12:58 B. A is what they already believe. B is
12:59 some alternative that you're suggesting
13:01 that makes their pain point solved
13:03 faster, better, or cheaper. Now, getting
13:04 good at learning how to create this
13:07 contrast with words is really the secret
13:08 to driving curiosity whenever you want.
13:10 It's honestly the secret to storytelling
13:12 at a macro level. Now, I'm not going to
13:14 go too deep into exactly how to build
13:16 this contrast and curiosity because it
13:18 really does differ for every scenario.
13:20 But what I will say is this, there are
13:23 two types of contrast. Implied contrast
13:26 and stated contrast. Stated contrast is
13:29 when you share verbally both A and B
13:30 explicitly. So, for example, saying
13:32 something like this, "Most people solve
13:34 their acne with Accutane, but I have an
13:36 herbal remedy that does it three times
13:38 faster." You're stating Accutane verse
13:40 herbal remedy, so it's impossible to
13:42 miss what that contrast is. The other
13:44 type of contrast, which is way more
13:46 subtle, is implied. And in this case,
13:48 you say what the contrarian alternative
13:50 is, but you don't reference the base
13:52 because it's implied. People know what
13:54 the base solution is. So for example, if
13:56 I say if you want to solve your acne,
13:57 this herbal supplement is eight times
13:59 more effective. If the common viewer
14:01 already knows what the baseline
14:03 solutions are, nothing, Accutane,
14:04 whatever they are, then you don't need
14:06 to say it again because it's implied
14:08 what their baseline understanding is.
14:10 Essentially, it's your contrarian take
14:12 versus the field of all other options.
14:13 So you really have two options to create
14:15 the contrast. You can go stated, which
14:17 is way more blunt, A versus B,
14:18 impossible to misunderstand, or you can
14:20 go implied, which is a little bit more
14:21 savvy and you don't really call it out
14:23 specifically. Now, tactically, when
14:24 you're writing hooks, typically the
14:26 topic clarity comes in the first
14:28 sentence, and then you set up that
14:30 contrast in the following one to two
14:32 sentences. This is why I consider hooks
14:33 to really be like two to three lines.
14:35 They're not always just a single punchy
14:37 line. Sometimes you can achieve the
14:39 clarity and the contrast all together in
14:41 one line. And if you can, those are the
14:42 easiest hooks that you can reuse. Again,
14:44 if you want the full master class on how
14:45 to do this tactically, and you want a
14:47 bunch of examples of good and bad across
14:48 every niche, and you also want a
14:50 checklist to just follow every time you
14:52 make hooks, I have that all in the hooks
14:53 master class. It's linked below. All
14:54 right, guys. That is all I've got for
14:56 this video. As a recap, we covered the
14:58 four main hook mistakes that you're
14:59 making that are preventing your videos
15:01 from outperforming. Those mistakes are
15:04 delay, confusion, irrelevance, and
15:06 disinterest. As always, please leave a
15:07 comment below if you like this video,
15:09 and just in general for feedback. I'm
15:11 always reading the comments, trying to
15:13 take those and improve. So, if this gave
15:14 you value and you liked it or didn't
15:16 like it, please leave a comment and let
15:17 me know. And remember guys, there is a
15:19 ton of free stuff in the description.
15:21 I'm literally just giving away the
15:22 answers for content. Please check the
15:24 description. If you're struggling with
15:25 any of these pain points, there's always
15:26 something in the description to help
15:28 you. And lastly, one more thing. If
15:29 you're a business owner and you really
15:31 want help improving your content, I
15:33 created a free community of only
15:35 entrepreneurs and creators. There's over
15:37 22,000 people in there that are all
15:39 helping each other get better. There's a
15:40 bunch of free trainings. It's called
15:42 Wavy World. I got a free invite for you
15:43 in the description if you want to join
15:45 that. It's the easiest way to get
15:46 started. All right, with that, we will
