How to Write Hooks That Stop the Scroll
You're spending hours crafting content. Beautiful story arcs. Strong endings.
And 80% of people leave before they get there.
That's what Kat Roan discovered when she started posting on TikTok. She looked at her attention graphs and saw viewers dropping off within the first three seconds. All that work on the middle and end? Wasted.
Kat is a product manager with over a decade in education, and she's built a following of 81k+ on TikTok by understanding one thing most people overlook: the hook matters more than anything else.
As she put it: "I can't even have a normal conversation to myself anymore. Everything's a hook."
In a TTV workshop, she broke down exactly how to write hooks that actually stop people scrolling.
Why Your Content Isn't Getting Read
The same thing happens on LinkedIn. If they don't read the first sentence, they're not clicking "see more." They're scrolling past.
Think about how you use LinkedIn. Things happen fast. You're scrolling. The real estate you have—whether it's pictures, videos, or text—you don't have much time to do anything with it.
Your job isn't just to write good content. It's to stop people scrolling before you can ask them to hear what you have to say.
What is a Hook?
A hook isn't just the first line of your post. It's the attention-grabbing element at the start of your content that makes someone want to keep going.
That applies everywhere:
- LinkedIn: First 200 characters or sentence line (before "see more")
- Email: The subject line (~60 characters)
- Video: First 3 seconds
- Ads: The headline or first visual text
- Articles: The title
Here's what makes it hard: the constraints are almost identical across platforms.
| Platform | Character/Time Limit |
|---|---|
| LinkedIn hooks | ~200 characters |
| Email subject lines | ~60 characters |
| Instagram ad text | ~125 characters |
| Video hooks | 2-3 seconds |
You don't have much space. Every word has to earn its place.
What Makes a Hook Work
After looking at hundreds of successful hooks, Kat identified three things they all have in common.
1. They're Short
If your hook doesn't fit the constraint—200 characters, subject line preview, three-second window—it's not a hook. It's just the beginning of your content.
2. They're Relevant to the Audience
The hook has to speak to the specific person you're trying to reach. Not everyone. Not a general audience. The actual human who should be reading your content.
3. They Trigger an Emotional Response
Great hooks make people feel something. Kat thinks about hooks by the reaction they get:
- "I disagree with that."
- "Tell me more."
- "That hit home."
- "No way that's true."
- "What's the secret?"
Look at Cody Sanchez (who's blowing up across platforms right now). One of her hooks: "Unpopular career advice: tolerate pain early on." Some people won't agree with that. It might rub them the wrong way. But they'll read more. That's the point.
If someone reads your hook and feels nothing, they keep scrolling.
How to Write Hooks That Work (4 Hook Styles)
If you're stuck, here are some structures you can use as starting points.
The Problem Statement
State the pain, promise the solution. Great for consultants and business owners.
"Most of us don't do things in fear of rejection. But we should actually fear the opposite."
The Contrast
Challenge what people assume to be true.
"Don't buy your first home to live in. Rent your first home instead."
The Listicle
People like knowing exactly what they're going to get.
"5 ways to lose weight in the next 10 days."
The How-To
Specific outcome plus specific timeframe equals specific interest.
"How to double your LinkedIn engagement in 30 days."
Hooks in Action: Before and After
In the workshop, we reworked actual hooks in real time. Here's what that looked like.
Kat's own failed hook:
"What's the worst someone can say?"
This got almost no engagement. It's vague. Doesn't appeal to anyone. You read it and think: what are you even talking about?
The post itself was actually good—about shooting your shot and not fearing rejection. But no one saw it because the hook killed it.
Reworked versions:
"The worst someone can say is yes."
Wait, what? Surely the worst is no? That contrast makes you want to read more.
Or:
"Most of us don't do things in fear of rejection. But we should actually fear the opposite."
Now you're curious. What's the opposite of rejection? Why would I fear that?
Another workshop example:
One participant had this hook about a colleague getting promoted:
Before: "Have you ever helped someone at work and then they got promoted ahead of you?"
After: "You helped them. Now they're your boss."
Same idea. But the second one hits harder. More direct. You feel something.
That's the work. Hook development takes iteration. You're not thinking in sequential order—here's the hook, here's the post. You're constantly going back and forth to make sure the hook and the content marry each other.
The Mistake Almost Everyone Makes
When you write content, you naturally build toward the punchline. Context first, argument second, insight at the end.
That's how we were taught to write. It's how movies work. It's how presentations are structured.
But it's backwards for social content.
Movies have time to build crescendo. Social media doesn't. You have to flip it around to make people interested enough to enter your world.
Kat's advice: read through your posts and find your best line. If it's at the end, move it to the beginning. That's your hook.
Hooks Aren't Clickbait
Some people resist writing strong hooks because they feel manipulative. Like clickbait.
Here's the distinction Kat draws: a hook becomes clickbait when it doesn't deliver on what it promises.
"Five ways to lose weight" followed by an ad for pills? Clickbait.
"Five ways to lose weight" followed by five actual ways to lose weight? That's just a good hook.
The hook and the content have to marry each other. You're not tricking anyone. You're giving them a reason to engage with something that will actually be valuable to them.
How Much Time Should You Spend on Hooks?
This is where Kat's advice surprised me.
She spends more time on the hook than on the rest of the post. If she has a good idea but a crappy hook, she won't post it.
That feels backwards. The hook is maybe 10% of the content. But if the hook doesn't work, the other 90% doesn't matter.
As Kat put it: once they leave, it's probably gone. The hook is the gatekeeper. It deserves the investment.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my hook is working?
Look at your click-through rate on "see more" for LinkedIn posts, or watch time retention graphs for video. If people are dropping off immediately, the hook isn't landing. If they're sticking around, it is.
Should I write the hook first or last?
Either can work. Some people write the post first and then find the punchline to move to the top. Others start with a hook and build the post around it. The key is iteration—don't settle for your first attempt.
Can hooks feel too salesy?
Only if they don't deliver. A strong hook that leads to genuinely valuable content builds trust. A strong hook that leads to a pitch breaks it. Match the energy of your hook to the value of your content.
The Bottom Line
Your content isn't competing with other content. It's competing with the scroll.
You have about two seconds to give someone a reason to stop. That's it.
The good news is that hooks can be learned. There are structures. There are frameworks. And with practice, you start thinking in hooks automatically.
As Kat said at the end of the workshop: "Welcome to my brain."
Start with the hook. Make it short. Make it relevant. Make it emotional. Then earn the rest of their attention.
Want to go deeper on LinkedIn content? Learn about writing LinkedIn posts that convert or explore the PACE framework for content clarity.
Ready to stop being invisible? Join The Trusted Voice where we help brilliant experts translate their expertise into authority.
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This post is based on a TTV workshop with Kat Roan, a product manager and educator who believes education is the key to unlocking everyone's awesomeness. You can find Kat on LinkedIn and TikTok.
