Hook Generator

---
name: hook-generator
description: "Generates attention-grabbing hooks for any content format including video intros, social posts, emails, articles, and ads. Use when a user needs opening lines that stop the scroll, wants to test multiple hook angles for a piece of content, or is struggling with how to start their content."
---

# Hook Generator

## When to Use This Skill

- Writing a YouTube video and need a strong opening
- Crafting social media posts that stop the scroll
- Writing email subject lines or opening lines
- Starting a blog post or article with impact
- Creating ad copy that grabs attention in the first 2 seconds
- Testing multiple angles for the same piece of content

## Core Principle

**A HOOK HAS 3 SECONDS TO EARN THE NEXT 30. Every hook must create a gap between what the reader knows and what they want to know.**

## Hook Formulas

### The 12 Proven Hook Types

| # | Type | Formula | Best For |
|---|------|---------|----------|
| 1 | Contrarian | "[Common belief] is wrong. Here's why." | Thought leadership, LinkedIn |
| 2 | Curiosity Gap | "There's a reason [surprising thing] and it's not what you think" | YouTube, blog posts |
| 3 | Specific Number | "[Number] [things] that [desirable outcome]" | Listicles, Instagram carousels |
| 4 | Story Open | "Last [month/Tuesday/year], I [specific event]..." | Email, long-form posts |
| 5 | Direct Challenge | "Stop [common mistake]. Do this instead." | Reels, TikTok, tweets |
| 6 | Bold Claim | "You can [impressive result] in [short timeframe]" | Sales pages, ads |
| 7 | Question | "What would you do if [relatable scenario]?" | Community posts, email |
| 8 | Before/After | "I went from [bad state] to [good state] by [method]" | Case studies, transformation content |
| 9 | Social Proof | "[Number] [people] already [did thing]. Here's what they learned." | Landing pages, emails |
| 10 | Confession | "I used to [embarrassing truth]. Then I discovered..." | Personal brand, newsletters |
| 11 | Urgency | "[Thing] is changing on [date]. Here's what you need to know." | Time-sensitive content |
| 12 | Pattern Interrupt | "[Unexpected statement that seems unrelated]" | Short-form video, tweets |

## Workflow

### Step 1: Understand the Content

Ask the user:
1. What's the topic or main point?
2. What format? (video, post, email, article, ad)
3. What platform? (YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, email, blog)
4. Who's the audience?

**Minimum needed: questions 1 and 2.**

### Step 2: Generate Hooks

Produce **5 hooks** using different formulas from the table above. For each hook:
- Label the hook type used
- Write the exact hook text
- Note the recommended platform fit

### Step 3: Rank and Recommend

Rank the 5 hooks by predicted engagement and explain why the #1 pick works best for the specified format and audience.

## Examples

### Example 1: YouTube Video About Email Marketing

**Topic:** Why most small businesses waste money on social media when email marketing has a higher ROI
**Format:** YouTube video (first 5 seconds spoken to camera)

**Generated hooks:**

1. **Contrarian:** "Social media marketing is a waste of money for most small businesses. I know that sounds insane, but look at these numbers." *(Best for: YouTube, LinkedIn)*

2. **Specific Number:** "I made $47,000 from one email list of 2,000 people. Here's the exact strategy." *(Best for: YouTube, Instagram Reels)*

3. **Story Open:** "Last March, I deleted all my social media apps for 30 days. My revenue went up. Here's what happened." *(Best for: YouTube, podcasts)*

4. **Direct Challenge:** "Stop posting on Instagram. Seriously. Your time is worth more than 47 likes." *(Best for: TikTok, Reels, tweets)*

5. **Bold Claim:** "You can build a $10K/month business with 500 email subscribers and zero social media followers." *(Best for: YouTube, ads)*

**Recommended:** Hook #3 (Story Open) — it creates immediate curiosity ("why would someone delete social media AND make more money?"), feels authentic, and sets up the entire video narrative.

### Example 2: Instagram Carousel About Pricing

**Topic:** How to raise your freelance rates without losing clients
**Format:** Instagram carousel (first slide text)

**Generated hooks:**

1. **Contrarian:** "Charging less doesn't get you more clients. It gets you worse ones."

2. **Specific Number:** "5 scripts to raise your rates by 30% (without a single client leaving)"

3. **Confession:** "I charged $25/hour for 2 years. Then one email changed everything."

4. **Question:** "Would your best client leave you over a 20% price increase? (Spoiler: no)"

5. **Before/After:** "$25/hour → $150/hour in 8 months. Here's what I changed (it wasn't my skills)."

**Recommended:** Hook #5 (Before/After) — specific numbers create credibility, the parenthetical creates a curiosity gap, and the transformation is aspirational without being unbelievable.

### Example 3: Cold Email Subject Line

**Topic:** Reaching out to e-commerce brands to offer email marketing services
**Format:** Email subject line (under 40 characters)

**Generated hooks:**

1. **Curiosity Gap:** "your welcome email is losing you $2K/mo"
2. **Question:** "quick question about [Brand Name]'s emails"
3. **Specific Number:** "3 emails = $12K (for brands like yours)"
4. **Social Proof:** "did this for [Similar Brand] — thought of you"
5. **Pattern Interrupt:** "don't hire an email marketer"

**Recommended:** Hook #2 (Question) — personalized subject lines with the brand name get 26% higher open rates, and "quick question" implies low commitment.

## Recovery & Fallbacks

- **User doesn't know their audience:** Generate hooks for a general audience, then ask which ones resonate — their preference reveals the audience.
- **All hooks feel generic:** Ask for one specific detail, metric, or story from the user's experience. One real number transforms a generic hook into a compelling one.
- **User wants more than 5:** Generate a second round of 5 using the remaining unused hook formulas.
- **Hook doesn't fit the format:** Adapt — YouTube hooks should be spoken aloud (conversational), tweet hooks need to be under 280 chars, email subject lines under 50 chars.

## Constraints

- **NEVER write clickbait that the content can't deliver on**
- Hooks must be truthful — no fabricated numbers or results
- Always match hook energy to the content format (casual for TikTok, professional for LinkedIn)
- Video hooks: keep under 10 seconds when spoken aloud
- Email subject lines: under 50 characters, no ALL CAPS, no excessive punctuation