The first two seconds

The first two seconds decide whether the rest gets played. Everything you spent time on after second three is wasted if the hook does not hold.

What a hook does

It opens a gap. The viewer should be missing the answer to something. "I have been testing this for three weeks and ..." is a gap. "Hi everyone, today I am going to talk about" is not a gap, it is a warm-up.

Four hooks that work

• Problem first. "My photos always came out yellow in the evening."
• The contradiction. "I thought more expensive was better. Wrong."
• Result first. Show the end state, then explain how.
• The direct question. Only if the question is specific. "Who else always forgets?" is not specific.

Say it while something is happening

A hook where you sit still and talk is weaker than the same words while you do something. Movement buys you another second.

Write the hook last

You do not know what the film is about until you have made it. Rewrite the hook when the rest is done.