Free tool
Video Hook Generator
The first three seconds decide whether the rest of the video happens. Pick your industry and get opening lines built from ten hook patterns that work on Reels, Shorts and TikTok. Five free here, all 100 by email.
Last updated: 2026-08-06
Short video is decided at the top. A viewer scrolling a vertical feed makes a stay or go decision before your intro music finishes, and every ranking system in the category reads that decision immediately: how many people were still there at three seconds, how many watched to the end, how many watched twice. Nothing you do later in the video can rescue a first line that gave people permission to swipe.
That is why the opening line is a separate craft from the rest of the script. Most videos that underperform do not have a content problem, they have a first three seconds problem: they start with a greeting, a logo, a slow pan, or a sentence explaining what the video is going to be about instead of being about it. Every one of those is a retention cliff, and the drop happens in the exact window that decides how far the video travels.
The ten patterns in this generator are the shapes that survive that window. An open loop promises something and withholds it. A pattern interrupt breaks the scroll rhythm with a hard stop. A contrarian take disagrees with the thing the viewer has heard a hundred times. Stakes name what they lose by getting it wrong. Each one is a different reason to stay for another second, and having ten of them matters more than having one good one, because the same shape repeated on every video stops working on the people who watch all of them.
These lines are written to be said out loud in the first second, before any greeting and before any logo, and the strongest videos usually put the same words on screen at the same time so the line works with the sound off. Everything here is editorial, distilled from public short form video patterns and platform best practice rather than measured Postify data. They are openings, not scripts: whatever the hook promises, the rest of the video has to pay it back, and a hook that oversells is a faster way to lose an audience than a boring one.
Build your opening lines
One choice decides the lines: the industry whose topics they are written around. The ten patterns are the same for everyone, because the first three seconds work the same way on every vertical feed.
These are written to be said out loud in the first second, before any greeting and before any logo. Put the same words on screen as text so the hook still lands with the sound off.
Pick an industry, then generate your first 5 hooks.
All ten patterns, with a real example line each, are printed further down this page, so you can read what the generator produces without generating anything at all.
The 10 hook patterns
Every line in the pack belongs to one of these ten shapes, and the shape is the part worth learning. A specific sentence stops working the third time you use it. The reason the sentence worked keeps working, which is why the generator holds 10 lines in each pattern rather than 100 unrelated ones. The example beside each pattern is the exact line the tool produces for a fitness account, so you can hear the shape rather than read a description of it.
| Pattern | Why it holds attention | Example line |
|---|---|---|
| Open loop10 lines | Promise something at the end and refuse to say it yet. The viewer stays to close the loop. | By the end of this you will know exactly why strength training basics stopped working for you. |
| Pattern interrupt10 lines | Break the scroll rhythm with a hard stop before the viewer has decided anything. | Stop. Whatever you were about to do with mobility drills, do not. |
| Contrarian take10 lines | Disagree with the thing the audience has heard a hundred times. Disagreement earns attention. | Everyone says running form takes time. Everyone is wrong. |
| Stakes10 lines | Name what the viewer loses by getting it wrong. Loss holds attention harder than gain. | This one mistake with workout splits cost me four months. |
| Curiosity gap10 lines | Show the edge of something the viewer does not know yet, and make the gap feel small enough to close. | There is a reason nobody in strength training basics talks about this publicly. |
| Mistake reveal10 lines | Admit the error first. It buys trust in a second and the fix becomes worth watching. | I got mobility drills wrong for two years. Do not copy me. |
| Listicle promise10 lines | A number tells the viewer exactly how long this will take. Small numbers beat big ones. | Five running form rules I would tattoo on my arm. |
| Before and after10 lines | Show the gap visually in the first frame. The eye finishes the sentence before you do. | This is what workout splits looked like before. Now watch. |
| Myth bust10 lines | Name the belief, then take it apart. The viewer stays to find out whether they were the one holding it. | No, strength training basics is not dead. Here is the actual data. |
| Direct callout10 lines | Address one specific person out loud. Everyone else keeps watching to check whether it is them. | This is for the person who has been avoiding mobility drills all week. |
The pack walks those patterns in order, ten lines at a time, so the 100 hooks arrive grouped rather than shuffled. The 5 free hooks on this page are line one of the first five patterns for exactly that reason: five variations of a single shape would make the tool look like it knows one trick, and the point is that there are ten.
Spoken hook or on-screen text
Both, saying the same thing, in the same second. A large share of any vertical feed autoplays muted, so a hook that only exists in the audio does not exist at all for those viewers, and a hook that only exists as a caption card is wasted on everyone watching with sound. Where creators lose the advantage is by writing two different openings, one for the voice and one for the text overlay, which splits the attention instead of doubling it. Write the line once, say it, and put the same words on screen large enough to read at arm length.
The retention cliff
Pull up the retention graph on any video that underperformed and the drop is almost never in the middle. It is at the front, in the window where the viewer was deciding, and everything that shapes how far a video travels is measured from there: how many people were still watching at three seconds, how much of it they watched, whether they watched it twice. Greetings, logo stings, slow pans and a sentence explaining what the video is about all live inside that window, and all four are reasons to leave. Delete them, open on the line, and the same footage performs differently.
Hook patterns are editorial, distilled from public short form video research and platform best practice, last reviewed 2026-08-06. They are opening lines, not scripts: say them out loud, cut anything that does not sound like you, and make sure the rest of the video pays off the promise.
Making the first three seconds count
- Say the hook in the first second, before the greeting. Hey guys, welcome back is the most expensive two seconds in short video, because it is spent in the exact window that decides whether the rest gets watched.
- Put the hook on screen as text as well as saying it. A large share of the feed watches muted at first, so a spoken hook with no on-screen text simply does not exist for those viewers, and the two together are stronger than either alone.
- Cut the first three seconds of your last video and watch what happens. Most videos are better with the opening removed, because the real hook was the sentence that came after the throat clearing.
- Pay the hook back. Every one of these lines makes a promise, and a video that opens on a promise it never keeps trains people to swipe on your next one. Overselling costs more than a flat opening does.
- Rotate the patterns rather than finding one that works and repeating it. Somebody who watches five of your videos in a week notices when all five open the same way, and the shape stops surprising them, which is the only thing it was doing.
- Match the hook to the payoff you actually have. A stakes hook on a light video reads as manipulation, and a listicle promise you do not deliver in the video is the fastest way to lose a rewatch, so pick the pattern that fits the footage you already shot.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a good video hook?
It gives the viewer a reason to stay that lands before they have decided to leave, and it does that in one sentence. In practice, three things separate a hook that works from one that does not: it starts immediately rather than after an introduction, it is specific enough that the viewer knows what they are staying for, and the video actually delivers on it. Every pattern in this generator is a different way of doing the first two, and only you can do the third.
How long do I have before someone scrolls?
Less time than feels reasonable. The stay or go decision on a vertical feed happens in the first seconds, well before most creators have finished their opening sentence, and everything that decides how far a video travels is measured from there: the drop at three seconds, the share of the video watched, the rewatch. Treat the opening line as its own deliverable and write it before the rest of the script rather than after.
Do the same hooks work on Reels, Shorts and TikTok?
Yes, which is why this tool has one page rather than three. All three surfaces are vertical, sound on by default for some viewers and muted for others, and ranked mostly on watch through and repeat views, so the mechanics of the first three seconds are the same everywhere. What differs is style and length rather than structure: TikTok tolerates a rougher, faster opening, and a Reel or a Short with the same line simply looks a little more produced.
Should the hook be spoken or on screen?
Both, saying the same thing. Feeds autoplay muted for many viewers, so an on-screen text hook reaches people the spoken one never does, and a spoken hook holds the people who already have sound on. Where creators go wrong is writing two different hooks, one for the caption text and one for the voice, which splits the viewer attention instead of doubling it. Same words, same second.
Can I reuse the same hook on different videos?
You can reuse a pattern, and you should. Reusing the exact line is what makes a feed of your videos feel like a template, and the people most likely to notice are the ones who watch you most. The useful habit is to keep the ten shapes in rotation and write a fresh line inside whichever shape suits the video, which is exactly what having 100 lines across ten patterns is for.
Do I get the full 100 hook pack?
Yes, by email. The five hooks on the page, one from each of the first five patterns, and the full explanation of all ten patterns below, are free with no address. The complete 100 hook pack for your industry, ten lines in each of the ten patterns, unlocks when you ask us to send it, and it is built from exactly the same pattern table you can read on this page.
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