Give me 15 mins, and I'll make your hooks impossible to skip

0:00Today we're talking about hooks. If you

0:01want your videos to perform better, you

0:03need to focus on leveling up your hooks.

0:05Now look, I've studied literally

0:07thousands of videos. And it turns out if

0:09your hooks are not working, there's only

0:11four mistakes you could be making. If

0:13you solve for these, your views will

0:15skyrocket immediately. So, in this

0:17video, I'm going to break all four of

0:18them down. These are the four hook

0:20mistakes holding back your videos with

0:22tactical examples and tips for how to

0:24fix each of them. By the way, I'm

0:25Callaway. I have a million followers.

0:27I've done billions of views. and content

0:29is all I do all day long. All right, now

0:30before I walk through the four main

0:32mistakes you're making with your hooks,

0:34let's just quickly talk about what a

0:35winning hook actually looks like.

0:37Understanding this one thing will help

0:38you a ton. Hooks really only have one

0:41job, to help a viewer decide to opt in

0:43and continue watching the video. The

0:45hook needs to stop the scroll and get

0:47the viewer to stay put. It's very

0:48simple. Now, in order to get the viewer

0:50to opt in and stay put, the hook only

0:52has to give them two things: topic

0:54clarity and ontarget curiosity. Topic

0:57clarity means the viewer has a crystal

0:59clear understanding of what the video is

1:01going to be about. And on target

1:03curiosity means that they believe the

1:05topic is for them. The video will give

1:07them some value and they have general

1:08curiosity on what comes next. So all the

1:11hook needs to do is drive those two

1:13points home. If you do this these two

1:15things, you win. I guarantee the viewer

1:17will be hooked. Now, of course, the

1:18million-dollar question is this. How do

1:20I make sure that every time I make a

1:22hook, the viewer gets those two things,

1:24topic clarity and ontarget curiosity?

1:26And this really is where the four

1:27horsemen hook mistakes come in. The

1:30reason bad hooks flop and don't deliver

1:32those two things is because you're

1:34making one or more of these four

1:36mistakes. If you fix all four of these,

1:37you'll be good to go. All right, the

1:39first hook mistake is called delay. And

1:41the good news is this one is the easiest

1:42one to fix. When I say delay, what I

1:44mean is that the context on what the

1:46video is going to be about is delayed

1:48too long in the video. If you were to

1:50visualize a script, let's say it has 13

1:52lines and the third line is the first

1:54time you introduce the topic. This is

1:56delay because those first two lines are

1:58fluff and unnecessary details. You need

2:00to cut those first two lines, move the

2:02third line up to the top so your topic

2:04introduction can happen in the first 1

2:06to 2 seconds. I often refer to this

2:08concept as speed to value. You want to

2:10increase the speed that the viewer can

2:12get to clarity or get to value. Here's

2:14an example of what bad delay looks like.

2:16Let's say you start your video with

2:17something like this. Guys, this is one

2:19of the craziest things I've ever seen.

2:20And when you see it, you're never going

2:21to believe it. That is an example of a

2:23legit hook that many people try to use

2:25when they're beginners. Now, in theory,

2:27this kind of sounds like it might be a

2:28good hook because it's building suspense

2:31and curiosity about what that thing is.

2:33You might hear that and wonder, "What

2:34did the creator see? I have to stick

2:36around to find out." But the problem

2:37with that sentence and generally hooks

2:39like this is that it gives me as the

2:41viewer zero context on what is coming

2:43next. A crazy thing you saw could be

2:45literally anything. So, if I have to

2:47decide with my time if I want to keep

2:49watching, I'm now unable to do it after

2:51just that sentence because I don't have

2:52the context. The typical chart for short

2:54form video retention looks like this.

2:56It's exponential decay. You see how

2:58steep those first two seconds are going

2:59down? That viewership falls off like a

3:02cliff. Every second you go without

3:04telling somebody what the video is

3:05about, so they have the information to

3:07decide to opt in, a large portion of

3:09your viewers are bouncing. Now, certain

3:11creators with these vague hooks are able

3:13to get some people to stay. If you look

3:15on Tik Tok specifically, it feels like

3:17these type of vague open-ended hooks

3:19work a lot. But the people that are

3:20staying are only staying because of how

3:23the creator looks, the emotion on the

3:24creator's face, or the text hook that

3:26they're putting on the screen. The

3:28spoken words actually add zero value to

3:30getting them to stay. So, it's not that

3:32these types of open-ended vague hooks

3:34can't ever work, it's just that they

3:35work way less often. So, to recap, hook

3:37problem number one is delay. And the fix

3:39is to stop delaying the introduction and

3:42the clarity of the context on the video.

3:44Use that first sentence in as few words

3:46as possible to give the context that the

3:48viewer needs to have to decide whether

3:50or not to opt in. An example of good

3:52rapid context would be something like

3:53this. Here are three simple ways to

3:55improve your gut health or if you have

3:57gut issues, these three remedies will

3:59help you immediately. If you get those

4:01hooks right away as the viewer, I know

4:02exactly what these videos are going to

4:04be about. Gut health and herbal remedies

4:06that can help me solve it. There is zero

4:08delay in the context and so I can opt in

4:10as soon as possible. All right, hook

4:11problem and mistake number two is

4:13confusion. And when I say confusion,

4:15what I really mean is comprehension

4:17loss. So, in this case, the viewer is

4:19just not understanding or comprehending

4:21what you're saying. At this point,

4:23you've eliminated the delay, which is

4:24good, but the words you're using or the

4:26phrasing of those sentences is just not

4:29clear and it's confusing the viewer. So,

4:31the problem here is really just a lack

4:32of clarity in your words. And the reason

4:34this is a problem is again, if the

4:36viewer can't assess if this video is

4:38actually for them because they're only

4:40understanding like half the words you

4:41say, then they have trouble deciding

4:43whether or not to opt in. Here's an

4:45example to illustrate exactly what I

4:46mean by lack of clarity and confusion.

4:48Imagine I started a hook like this.

4:50These guys built a $30 million empire

4:52and the online money they made is most

4:54difficult to earn if you don't develop a

4:56journaling practice like they did. And

4:57this is a bit exaggerated obviously. Few

4:59people actually talk like that, but you

5:00get the point of how difficult and

5:02confusing it was to actually parse

5:04through what I was trying to say. If you

5:06hear just that, you can kind of gather

5:07the video is going to be about an online

5:09business and maybe something to do with

5:11journaling, but you're really struggling

5:12to put the pieces together clearly

5:14because of the way I framed the

5:16sentence. And this is a classic clarity

5:18issue. Instead, for that exact same

5:20idea, you could write the hook like

5:22this. These guys built a $30 million

5:24empire and their secret for earning

5:25money online was their insane journaling

5:28practice. See how just changing the

5:29words slightly and the way the sentence

5:31is ordered makes it way easier to

5:33understand what I'm saying. Essentially,

5:34you as the viewer are able to absorb

5:36more of the words. Your hit rate for

5:38comprehension goes up and then confusion

5:40goes down. Now, the tactics for how to

5:42improve clarity is really about becoming

5:43a better writer. You want to use fewer

5:45words, but enough that the viewer can't

5:47misunderstand you. You want to use

5:49simpler words, ideally at a sixth grade

5:51reading level. And you want to use

5:52direct active voice instead of passive

5:54voice on the sentences so they're easier

5:56to understand. The dog jumped verse the

5:58jump of the dog. Here are two quick tips

6:00for immediately improving hook clarity

6:02and reducing confusion. For the first

6:04tip, you could just take the hook you've

6:06written and drop it into chatbt or

6:08claude with this prompt. I've written a

6:10hook for a short form video about X

6:12topic. I need help increasing the

6:14clarity and the framing of the sentences

6:15I used. I want the meaning to be the

6:17exact same, but can you rewrite this in

6:19a sixth grade reading level so that

6:20there's no misunderstanding from the

6:22viewer? This prompt will automatically

6:24remix and rewrite the hook for you. You

6:25could also just use sandcastle.ai, which

6:27is my AI scriptw writing tool. You just

6:30put the topic in and we'll write it for

6:31you in a very clear way. All right, the

6:32last tip for clarity proofing your hooks

6:34would be to do this. When you read just

6:36the hook, those one to two sentences in

6:38isolation without anything else. Ask

6:40yourself this question. Is it possible

6:42for the viewer to misunderstand what I'm

6:44saying in the wrong way? Is there more

6:46than one way these sentences could be

6:48interpreted? If so, rewrite the hook so

6:50that you eliminate those alternative

6:52understanding paths so there's only the

6:54one that you want. All right. Now,

6:55before I go on to the last two hook

6:57mistakes, and these ones really are the

6:58biggest, I just want to mention

6:59something. I think becoming a master at

7:01hooks is the single biggest lever you

7:04can pull if you're trying to get your

7:05content to perform better. Hooks are the

7:0780 of the 8020 in the content flow. Now,

7:09if you want to become god tier at hooks

7:11and just write bangers every single time

7:13without thinking about it, I just filmed

7:15the most comprehensive training on short

7:17form hooks ever created. So, if you make

7:19Instagram reels, Tik Toks, LinkedIn

7:21shorts, YouTube shorts, this will feel

7:23like a cheat code for you. What I'm

7:25covering in this video right now, it's

7:26like 1 to 2% of the full hook playbook

7:29that I give in this training. In that

7:31training, I covered these things in

7:32depth. One, hook psychology. How do

7:34hooks actually work under the surface

7:36and manipulate viewers' brains? Two,

7:39what is my 10-minute cheat code hook

7:41framework? Literally a checklist that

7:43you can follow every single time you're

7:44going to write a hook that works without

7:46fail. And three, what are examples of

7:48good and bad hooks from 11 different

7:51categories and niches, breaking them

7:53down, analyzing why the good ones are

7:54good and why the bad ones are bad? I

7:56also built a full hooks database with

7:58over 400 different videos, deep tagging

8:01across hook format, strategy, visuals,

8:04text, audio, all the components. And I

8:06built a system for analyzing that

8:08database and then coming up with new

8:10hooks for yourself. I literally went

8:11out, found the best creators in every

8:13niche, extracted their top videos,

8:15analyzed their hooks, and then created

8:17frameworks and patterns in that

8:18database. I also in this training teach

8:20the full research method that I use to

8:22go look at other videos, extract their

8:24hooks. How do I actually do that? How do

8:26you find the top videos? I teach that

8:28whole thing. Like I said, my goal was to

8:29make this the undisputed god tier short

8:32form hooks resource. So, if you like the

8:33videos on my channel and most

8:34importantly the way I break things down

8:36and explain things, this training will

8:38be the best way to go from zero to 100

8:40on short form hooks, you watch this and

8:42you'll be set. You can access it at the

8:44link here or in the description. All

8:45right, hook problem number three is

8:46irrelevance. And at this point, so far

8:48you have solved for the first two. So,

8:50you've eliminated delay and you've

8:52maximized the clarity, getting rid of

8:54the confusion so the viewer knows

8:55exactly what the video is going to be

8:56about. Problem number three, irrelevance

8:58means that the viewer is not confident

9:00that what's coming next in the video

9:02after the hook is going to be valuable

9:04enough to help them solve a problem. So,

9:06they know what the video is about, but

9:07they're unclear if it's relevant for

9:09them. Now, there are two easy ways to

9:11solve this problem. The first way is to

9:13say the word you or your instead of the

9:15words me or I when you're delivering the

9:18hook. Most people think you should make

9:19hooks like this. I've struggled with

9:21skin problems my whole life. The problem

9:23is this opens a door in the viewer's

9:25mind to question if they see themselves

9:27in the creator because they're thinking

9:29this, well, if you struggle with these

9:30problems, do I also struggle with the

9:32same problems you do? That's what

9:34they're questioning in their mind. If

9:35the viewer doesn't see themsel in the

9:37creator for a number of different

9:38reasons, they're going to put less value

9:40in the incoming solution, and they'll

9:42stop watching. This is the irrelevance

9:44problem. The viewer doesn't feel like

9:45what's coming next will be relevant for

9:47them. So, to solve this problem, all you

9:49have to do is frame your hooks using you

9:51and your. So instead of saying, "I've

9:53struggled with skin problems my whole

9:54life," you say, "If you've struggled

9:56with skin problems your whole life," dot

9:58dot dot. When you do this, the viewer

10:00feels like the video is targeted for

10:01them. There's no possible question or

10:03misunderstanding because you're saying

10:04it's for you for your problems. And this

10:06makes the viewer hold on longer for the

10:08hook. Now, the second way to solve for

10:10the relevance problem is to frame your

10:12hooks around expected value. There are

10:14two types of videos: entertainment and

10:16education. Both of these offer solutions

10:18to a painoint. That solution is value.

10:20Entertainment offers a solve for

10:21boredom. Education offers a solve for a

10:24specific problem. If you want your hook

10:26to feel more relevant for your viewer,

10:27all you have to do is agitate a painoint

10:30that they already have so that you can

10:31tee up a solution that is for them. For

10:34example, can you tell the difference

10:35between these two hooks? The first one

10:37is these are three common trends in

10:39skincare. And the second one is if you

10:41struggle with acne, try these three

10:42things. Learning about trends in

10:44skincare is a nice to have. Solving my

10:46acne problem is a need to have. So, if

10:48you frame the hook around a known

10:50painoint and you deliver it using you

10:52and your instead of me and my, the video

10:54will seem more targeted for the viewer

10:56and it will hook them more. Okay, the

10:57last hook problem number four is

10:59disinterest. And this is the one that

11:01most people fixate on the most. At this

11:03point, the viewer is clear on the topic,

11:05believes there is some relevance or

11:07value incoming for them, but the hook

11:09still just doesn't grab them enough.

11:11This is the curiosity problem. The hook

11:13just doesn't make the viewer curious

11:15enough to want to keep watching. So,

11:16what you want to do in the hook to solve

11:18the disinterest problem is build a

11:20curiosity loop. And everybody talks

11:22about curiosity loop, but nobody ever

11:23explains what it is. A curiosity loop is

11:25when the viewer sees something, asks a

11:27hypothetical question in their mind,

11:29gets some additional context to answer

11:31it, but that spurs a new question, more

11:33context, new question, more context, and

11:35so on. They keep opening loops

11:37throughout the entire video. That's what

11:38a curiosity loop really is. So, your job

11:40in the hook is to open that initial

11:42curiosity loop and start the spiral.

11:44What is that initial question that the

11:46viewer has where they can't look away?

11:48They just have to wait for more context

11:49to answer it. So, the $10 million

11:51content question really is this. How do

11:53you always drive curiosity and build

11:56that curiosity loop every single time,

11:58no matter what type of video you're

11:59making? And the way you do this is by

12:01setting up contrast or comparison in the

12:04hook. Contrast is simply the distance

12:06between the current common belief of the

12:08viewer and some contrarian or

12:10alternative perspective that you offer.

12:12So, for example, if I say in the hook,

12:14this one trick will clear up all your

12:16acne in 45 minutes without any side

12:18effects. What I'm really doing is

12:20creating a comparison in your mind to

12:22the current baseline. You got to wait 6

12:23months, take Accutane, go through all

12:25these side effects versus my contrarian

12:27offer, 45 minutes, no side effects,

12:29quick solve. That distance is contrast.

12:32What happens when you do this in the

12:34viewer subconscious is that when you

12:35frame a comparison, A something they

12:38know and B something they don't, B

12:40triggers the sticky pain point they have

12:42from A not solving their pain. And so

12:45essentially that comparison acts as a

12:47reagitator of that painoint which gets

12:49them curious because they want to solve

12:51it. To simplify all this, if you're not

12:53following what I'm saying, it's A versus

12:55B. A is what they already believe. B is

12:58some alternative that you're suggesting

12:59that makes their pain point solved

13:01faster, better, or cheaper. Now, getting

13:03good at learning how to create this

13:04contrast with words is really the secret

13:07to driving curiosity whenever you want.

13:08It's honestly the secret to storytelling

13:10at a macro level. Now, I'm not going to

13:12go too deep into exactly how to build

13:14this contrast and curiosity because it

13:16really does differ for every scenario.

13:18But what I will say is this, there are

13:20two types of contrast. Implied contrast

13:23and stated contrast. Stated contrast is

13:26when you share verbally both A and B

13:29explicitly. So, for example, saying

13:30something like this, "Most people solve

13:32their acne with Accutane, but I have an

13:34herbal remedy that does it three times

13:36faster." You're stating Accutane verse

13:38herbal remedy, so it's impossible to

13:40miss what that contrast is. The other

13:42type of contrast, which is way more

13:44subtle, is implied. And in this case,

13:46you say what the contrarian alternative

13:48is, but you don't reference the base

13:50because it's implied. People know what

13:52the base solution is. So for example, if

13:54I say if you want to solve your acne,

13:56this herbal supplement is eight times

13:57more effective. If the common viewer

13:59already knows what the baseline

14:01solutions are, nothing, Accutane,

14:03whatever they are, then you don't need

14:04to say it again because it's implied

14:06what their baseline understanding is.

14:08Essentially, it's your contrarian take

14:10versus the field of all other options.

14:12So you really have two options to create

14:13the contrast. You can go stated, which

14:15is way more blunt, A versus B,

14:17impossible to misunderstand, or you can

14:18go implied, which is a little bit more

14:20savvy and you don't really call it out

14:21specifically. Now, tactically, when

14:23you're writing hooks, typically the

14:24topic clarity comes in the first

14:26sentence, and then you set up that

14:28contrast in the following one to two

14:30sentences. This is why I consider hooks

14:32to really be like two to three lines.

14:33They're not always just a single punchy

14:35line. Sometimes you can achieve the

14:37clarity and the contrast all together in

14:39one line. And if you can, those are the

14:41easiest hooks that you can reuse. Again,

14:42if you want the full master class on how

14:44to do this tactically, and you want a

14:45bunch of examples of good and bad across

14:47every niche, and you also want a

14:48checklist to just follow every time you

14:50make hooks, I have that all in the hooks

14:52master class. It's linked below. All

14:53right, guys. That is all I've got for

14:54this video. As a recap, we covered the

14:56four main hook mistakes that you're

14:58making that are preventing your videos

14:59from outperforming. Those mistakes are

15:01delay, confusion, irrelevance, and

15:04disinterest. As always, please leave a

15:06comment below if you like this video,

15:07and just in general for feedback. I'm

15:09always reading the comments, trying to

15:11take those and improve. So, if this gave

15:13you value and you liked it or didn't

15:14like it, please leave a comment and let

15:16me know. And remember guys, there is a

15:17ton of free stuff in the description.

15:19I'm literally just giving away the

15:21answers for content. Please check the

15:22description. If you're struggling with

15:24any of these pain points, there's always

15:25something in the description to help

15:26you. And lastly, one more thing. If

15:28you're a business owner and you really

15:29want help improving your content, I

15:31created a free community of only

15:33entrepreneurs and creators. There's over

15:3522,000 people in there that are all

15:37helping each other get better. There's a

15:39bunch of free trainings. It's called

15:40Wavy World. I got a free invite for you

15:42in the description if you want to join

15:43that. It's the easiest way to get

15:45started. All right, with that, we will

15:46see you guys on the next one.