kenneth-liao/hook

Hook Creation

Overview

This skill provides concrete requirements and proven patterns for creating opening hooks that retain audience attention, extend title/headline curiosity, and maximize engagement. The opening content is critical for retention across all platforms — video, email, and social.

Core Principle: The opening works best when it extends the curiosity created by the title/headline rather than repeating or wasting it. Because the audience already engaged based on the title's promise, attention momentum is at its peak — the opening should add new intrigue and make them even more interested.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Planning new content and need to design the opening hook
• Reviewing an existing opening for engagement optimization
• The user asks for help with retention, early drop-off, or opening strategy
• Creating content that requires strong audience engagement from the start
• Analyzing why content has poor early engagement metrics

Content Type Resolution

Before creating hooks, determine the content type and load the appropriate platform-specific reference file:

| Content Type | Reference File | Opening Format | |---|---|---| | YouTube video | references/youtube-hooks.md | First 5-15 seconds of video | | Newsletter | references/newsletter-hooks.md | First paragraph / preview text | | Social post | references/social-hooks.md | First line / hook tweet |

Essential: Read the relevant reference file before creating hooks — these references contain platform-specific patterns, timing requirements, and patterns to avoid that directly affect retention.

If the content type does not match any reference file, apply the universal principles below and adapt to the format.

Core Requirements

1. Curiosity Extension

The opening works best when it builds upon the intrigue from the title/headline rather than repeating it.

CORRECT Example:

• Title: "Teach Your Cat 5 Tricks in 10 Minutes"
• Opening: Rapid preview montage of impressive tricks in action
• Audience thinks: "I can teach my cat ALL of that in only 10 minutes?!"

INCORRECT Example:

• Title: "Teach Your Cat 5 Tricks in 10 Minutes"
• Opening: "Today we're going to look at 5 tricks you can teach your cat in 10 minutes"
• Audience thinks: "I know. Get on with it."

The opening should make the audience more interested than when they engaged. Attention should increase, not drain.

2. Direct Content Connection

Essential: Opening content should directly relate to the title/headline promise, because any disconnect breaks the trust that brought the audience in.

Guidelines:

• Avoid unrelated tangents or side stories in the opening
• Avoid delayed starts where main content appears much later
• Keep content tightly connected to the promised value
• If additional context is needed, introduce it after the hook is established

3. Patterns to Avoid

These patterns consistently fail because each one drains the attention momentum the title created:

3.1 Repeating the Title

Avoid restating what the title already communicated. The audience already has this information — repetition signals that the content won't offer anything new, and attention drops.

3.2 Greeting Before Hooking

Avoid starting with greetings, welcomes, or introductions before the hook. Greetings are fine after the initial hook is established, but leading with them delays the payoff.

• Bad: "Hi everyone, welcome back..."
• Bad: "Hey what's up, thanks for clicking..."
• Bad: "In this issue, we'll cover..."

3.3 Starting with Unrelated Content

Avoid opening with tangents, stories, or content disconnected from the title/headline promise. Audience confusion triggers abandonment — they came for a specific promise and need immediate confirmation they're in the right place.

Effective Opening Hook Patterns

Use one of these proven hook structures:

Pattern A: Preview/Teaser

Show a brief glimpse of the payoff before diving into the full content.

Creates thought: "I need to know how to do that!" or "I need to read this."

Works best for: Educational content, tutorials, how-to guides.

Pattern B: Intrigue Escalation

Add surprising context that makes the promise MORE compelling than the title alone.

Example: Title about a technique -> Open with "What I'm about to show you took professionals years to discover, but you'll learn it in 60 seconds."

Creates thought: "This is even better than I expected!"

Works best for: Expert content, reveals, insider knowledge.

Pattern C: Problem Amplification

Immediately validate why the audience needs this content by amplifying the problem.

Example: Title about mistakes -> Open with "If you're doing [X], you're losing [specific bad outcome]."

Creates thought: "I need to fix this now!"

Works best for: Problem-solving content, mistake-avoidance content.

Pattern D: Immediate Value Demonstration

Jump straight into delivering on the promise. No preamble, just results.

Creates thought: "This is exactly what I came for!"

Works best for: Tactical content, quick tips, high-value insights.

Hook Creation Workflow

When creating or reviewing opening hooks, follow this workflow:

1. Review title/headline — Understand what curiosity was created
2. Identify the escalation — How can the opening make it MORE intriguing?
3. Choose hook pattern — Which structure (A/B/C/D) best serves the content?
4. Draft opening content — Create the opening section
5. Apply verification checklist — Ensure all requirements are met
6. Test against failure patterns — Ensure none of the 3 common failure patterns are present

Voice Application

Before finalizing any written output, invoke the creator-stack:voice skill to apply voice rules. Hooks should reflect the user's authentic voice, not generic copywriting language.

Brand Compliance

When creating assets for The AI Launchpad, invoke creator-stack:brand-guidelines to resolve the correct design system and check anti-patterns.

Quality Verification Checklist

Before finalizing any opening hook, verify ALL of these:

• [ ] Non-Repetition Test: Does this opening avoid repeating the title? (Must be YES)
• [ ] Curiosity Extension Test: Does this make the audience more curious than the title alone?
• [ ] Direct Connection Test: Is this immediately related to what the title promised?
• [ ] No Greeting First Test: Does this avoid greetings before the hook? (Must be YES)
• [ ] Attention Increase Test: Will this increase audience attention, not drain it?
• [ ] Engagement Validation Test: Does this confirm the audience made the right choice engaging?
• [ ] Platform Timing Test: Does this meet the platform-specific timing/length requirements?

Common Failure Patterns

Pattern 1: The Friendly But Empty Greeting

Bad: "Hi everyone, welcome! Thanks so much for being here..."

Problem: Drains attention before value is delivered.

Pattern 2: The Exact Repetition

Bad: Title: "5 AI Agent Patterns"
     Opening: "Today I'm showing you 5 AI agent patterns"

Problem: Audience already knows this. No new information.

Pattern 3: The Meandering Start

Bad: Title: "Amazing Coding Hack"
     Opening: "So I was browsing GitHub yesterday and I saw
     this interesting repo and it reminded me of..."

Problem: Takes too long to get to the promised content.

Pattern 4: The Over-Explanation

Bad: "Before we get started, let me explain why this is
     important and give you some background on..."

Problem: Delays the payoff. Audience loses patience.

Success Priorities

Priority Order (highest to lowest):

1. Extend curiosity — don't repeat the title (repetition is the most common reason hooks fail)
2. Add intrigue beyond the title/headline
3. Connect directly to promised content
4. Hook before greeting — save introductions for after the hook lands
5. Meet platform-specific timing/length requirements

The strongest hooks avoid these three patterns because each one drains the attention the title created: repeating the title, greeting before hooking, or starting with unrelated content. Regenerate if any of these are present, regardless of other qualities.