Is your hook strong?
Eight things the best openings do. Check what yours does, get a live score and the exact fixes for whatever is missing.
Check everything your last opening actually does.
Your hook score
0 / 8 · Weak hook
Most of your reach is decided in these three seconds, and right now the opening is leaving it on the table. The good news: every gap below is fixable in the edit.
Your quickest wins
- It opens on the payoff, not the setup. Lead with the most compelling moment, even if it happens at the end of the story. In our data this roughly doubles the three-second hold.
- It skips the greeting ("hey guys, welcome back"). Cut the intro. Start where the interesting thing is already happening.
- The first line makes a specific promise. Tell them exactly what they will get, in the first sentence.
Based on patterns from 1,000+ videos. A guide, not a grade.
Nobody decides to skip. They just never decide to stay.
On a feed, the opening is not the introduction to your video. It is the audition for it. Most of the audience leaves before the first sentence finishes, which is why we treat the first three seconds as their own edit, with their own review.
The full data is in what 1,000+ videos taught us about the first 3 seconds, and this is exactly the standard our video editing holds on every opening.
Common questions.
Straight answers on what makes an opening hold.
What makes a good hook for a short-form video?
It opens on the payoff instead of the setup, makes a specific promise or opens a loop in the first line, looks different from the feed, works on mute, and does not over-promise what the video delivers. The checklist above scores your opening against all eight.
How long do you have to hook a viewer?
About three seconds. Most viewers who leave a short-form video leave in the opening, before the first sentence finishes, so the first frame and first line carry most of the weight.
Why do good videos still get skipped?
Usually the opening, not the content. If the first frame looks like every other video and the first line buries the payoff, viewers never stay long enough to see the good part.
Does over-promising in the hook hurt?
Yes. A hook that promises more than the video delivers costs a clear drop in completion, on the order of 15 to 30 percent, because audiences forgive a modest start faster than a broken promise.
Let us cut your next opening.
Not ready to commit? Try a sample edit first →
Sixty seconds to configure. One reply, within the day.