Creating a Memorable Hook

Most people lose the room before they’ve earned the right to speak. Not because they’re boring. Not because they lack confidence. But because they skip one of the oldest storytelling techniques there is: The hook. And no — hooks aren’t just for storytellers or keynote speakers. They work when you’re: • Opening a presentation • Speaking up in a meeting • Commanding a room • Starting a difficult conversation After studying hundreds of story openings (on stage and in boardrooms), here are seven hooks that consistently work — in order of effectiveness: 1. Name the room “This is for leaders who…” Relevance comes first. When people hear themselves, they feel seen. When they feel seen, they listen. 2. Name the struggle “If you’ve ever felt stuck trying to…” This isn’t persuasion. It’s resonance. 3. Lead with a shocking statistic “Most people decide whether to trust a speaker in the first 30 seconds.” A strong stat creates urgency and authority. It signals: this matters. 4. “Did you know…?” Lead with a surprising fact or insight. Curiosity is a biological reflex — once triggered, people lean in. 5. “What if…?” Invite your listener into a possibility. It turns information into imagination. And imagination beats slides every time. 6. Start in the middle of a story “I was halfway through my Q3 results when our CEO stood up, grabbed his coffee, and walked straight out of the room.” Tension creates pull. People stay to find out what happens next. 7. Share a secret “They don’t tell you this, but…” Insider language creates intrigue — and lands best once trust is earned. Here’s the part most people miss: A good hook isn’t about being clever. It’s about signalling value upfront. Every great hook makes a silent promise: Something meaningful is about to happen for you. That’s true in stories. That’s true in presentations. That’s true when you open your mouth in a meeting. Don’t assume attention is given. In any room, it has to be earned. Which one do you avoid using — even though you know it works?

Our Head of Product, Max Radman, spent the last 2 years analyzing 1,000+ LinkedIn hooks. After 100s of hours of obsession, he noticed the best hooks are REALLY good at 2 things: 1. catching attention 2. converting attention There are thousands of different ways to do both of these within the first 200 characters of a LinkedIn post. (the “see more” cutoff limit) But the best one we've seen use a 2-line structure with the following components: 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝟭: 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 + 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 The opening sentence immediately builds credibility and teases a story. Example hook from me - Line 1: “I grew notus to $180k MRR using only LinkedIn” • Social proof = being able to show you did something that's relevant to others. It signals to the reader: “Oh, this is worth reading.” • (Personal) storytelling increases firepower. Everyone’s story is unique AKA. there is only 1 of it. By definition, this makes it more valuable, because you can’t find it anywhere else. Not every hook follows these criteria to a tee, but the best performing ones he’s seen leverage both. ____ 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝟮: 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 The 2nd line tells the reader exactly what they’ll get from the post. Example hook from me - Line 2: “If I had to start from 0 again, here are the exact 6 steps I’d follow.” • This creates curiosity. The reader knows what the post is about and why it’s relevant - but now they want to know “how it works”. • It's also specific. The reader knows what they will get in the post, which reduces uncertainty. The combination is what keeps them reading. ____ TL;DR The best hooks catch & convert. (Just like the hook of this post did.) They’re clear, specific & leave no room for interpretation, while still sparking curiosity.

Your opening line makes or breaks your LinkedIn post. Think of it like meeting someone for the first time. Within seconds, you’re making a judgment. Are they interesting, relevant, or someone you want to know more about? Or do you drift away and move on? Your LinkedIn audience is doing the same thing every time they scroll. That very first sentence of your post is your chance to spark curiosity, make someone pause, and encourage them to hit “see more.” If you don’t hook them there, they’ll never get to the good stuff you’ve spent time and energy creating. Your opening line is your digital first impression. And just like in real life, you rarely get a second chance. Here are 5 ways to make your hooks stronger and more engaging: ✨ Start with a bold statement – something surprising, thought-provoking, or even a little controversial. ✨ Ask a question – ideally one your ideal client is already asking themselves. ✨ Highlight a pain point – show that you understand the challenges your audience faces. ✨ Use numbers – “3 mistakes costing you visibility” is instantly more clickable than “tips to improve your posts.” ✨ Keep it short + punchy – one impactful sentence is all you need. 💡 TIP: It often helps to write the hook first to make sure your opening sentence grabs attention, and the rest of the post will more naturally flow from there. The opening line isn’t about being clever for the sake of it. It’s about making a promise: if you give me your attention, I’ll give you something valuable in return. 👉 Next time you write a post, spend as much time on the hook as you do on the body of your content. Or better yet, write it first. How much focus do you give to getting the first line of your post right? What kind of openers make you stop scrolling to read on?

I've gone viral 10+ times on LinkedIn. Every viral post started with one of these 3 hooks. Most people overthink hooks. But great hooks do one simple thing: they make you feel something. After 200+ posts, I've noticed every high-performing hook fits into 3 categories 👇 1. HELP (Promise a solution) Examples: → "Here's how I optimized my LinkedIn profile in 10 minutes." → "This AI tool saved me 10 hours per week." → "If your posts aren't getting engagement, try this." People stop scrolling when you promise to fix their problem. 2. HOPE (Show transformation) Examples: → "I went from 12 reactions to 4K in one post. Here's what changed." → "0 to 58K followers in 10 months using AI." → "I thought I'd never grow. Then I discovered this system." People want proof they can do it too. 3. HUMAN (Share vulnerability) Examples: → "I almost quit when my posts dropped from 9K to 500 reactions." → "This mistake cost me 6 months of LinkedIn growth." → "I was embarrassed to post this, but here's the truth." Vulnerability feels real. When I struggled with ideas, I thought the problem was creativity. It wasn't. I was writing information, not emotion. Once I asked, "What should the reader FEEL?" It gave my writing purpose. Pro tip: If a hook structure worked once, reuse it. Which hook type stops YOUR scroll most: Help, Hope, or Human?

10 hooks that always grab attention: (And templates you can use in under 30 seconds) Hooks are like headlines on the news. If it’s not urgent, high value or emotional - no one stops to read them. Yet people make the same mistakes: ❌ Try to sound inspirational over interesting, “Believe in yourself…” ❌ Vague promises that mean nothing, “This changed everything for me.” ❌ Follow a generic AI template like, “It’s not X, it’s Y.” Then wonder why their content is ignored. AI fatigue is at an all-time high. Every third post sounds exactly the same. The same hook, the same tone, the same problems and solutions. In the sea of sameness, clever hooks don’t stand out. Original, personal hooks do. The ones that spark tension, curiosity, even a little anxiety. Try using these 10 types of hooks (and their templates): 1/ Authority Hooks • Hooks rooted in personal stories and expertise build trust. • “We analysed 318,842 LinkedIn posts in Q3 2025. And LinkedIn has changed…” 2/ Conversation Hooks • A real dialogue instantly pulls readers into a moment. • “CEO: I’m firing our VP Sales. Me: How long have they been here?” 3/ Curiosity Hooks • State a bold claim, then tease the evidence. • “This chart is the clearest signal of where the internet is heading.” 4/ Contrarian Hooks • Challenge an accepted belief to create instant tension. • “Stop building your personal brand. Build this instead.” 5/ Pattern Break Hooks • Interrupt the reader with an unexpected truth. • “Your skills aren’t the problem. Your perspective is.” 6/ Personal Story Hooks • Go emotional and relatable without oversharing. • “Growing up, I never thought I’d get married. I was terrified I wouldn’t be a good partner.” 7/ Numbers Hooks • Data and specifics build credibility fast. • “You commit the 7 deadly sins of prompting - here’s how to fix them.” 8/ Disagreement Hooks • Attack a widely accepted “truth” to create friction and interest. • “Boring content is dead. You can follow every “rule” - and still be forgettable.” 9/ Nobody-Tells-You Hooks • Reveal a hidden truth people feel but never say. • “I interviewed 50 people who quit their jobs in 2024. Nobody tells you the real reason why:” 10/ I Was Wrong Hooks • Admit a mistake that leads to an unexpected lesson. • “The day I stopped fearing smart people was the day that changed my life.” Don’t try to sound clever. Aim to make the reader feel something - tension, excitement, or even a bit of fear. That’s what makes people stop the scroll. 📌 Want a high-res PDF of this sheet? Get it here: https://lnkd.in/gKzZUq-b ♻️ Repost to help your network write better hooks. ➕ Follow me (Will McTighe) for more like this.

I’ve seen speakers lose the room in first 30 seconds. Not because they lacked expertise... But they chose the wrong start. The fastest way to make a talk forgettable? Open it like everyone else. Here’s what most speakers don’t realize: The first 60 seconds decide everything. And most people waste them. You know this because you’ve sat through it: - Long bio nobody asked for - Mediocre joke that dies mid-air - Apologizing before you even begin - “I’m a little nervous…” and now everyone is - Reading the agenda slide like it’s a bedtime story - Cliche quote from someone more famous than you - “Any questions before I begin?” followed by… crickets - A dictionary definition of a word everyone already knows - “I’m so excited to be speaking...” with zero visible excitement Speakers keep starting the way they secretly hate experiencing. Strong openings look different: - A promise to solve a pain point than a mediocre joke - A hook that creates tension, not a polite formality - Bold statement instead of self-deprecation - A relevant story, not dictionary definition - Your perspective, not Mark Twain’s - Energy you show, not announce - Direction, not an agenda recital - Relevance before credentials - Confidence over apology Forgettable speakers protect themselves. Memorable speakers protect audience’s attention. So try this: Before your next presentation, look at your planned opening. If it’s safe, familiar, or “what people usually do”… delete it. Replace it with something that creates curiosity in the first sentence. You’ve got this 👏

I used to think the whole point of a hook was to be interesting. Say something weird. Start with something unexpected. Create a pattern interrupt. That was the playbook everyone taught. So we'd write hooks like "you'll never believe what happened when I tried this." Pure intrigue. Pure curiosity bait. And honestly? Some of them worked. But most of them didn't. And I couldn't figure out why. Then I started breaking down our top performers element by element. Not just what they said, but why they made people stay. Here's what I realized. The hooks that consistently won weren't just intriguing. They had layers. The best ones stacked four things together. Something newsworthy — it felt current, like it just happened or was just discovered. Self-interest — the viewer immediately felt like this was about them and their life. A quick and easy promise — the sense that whatever's coming is simple and achievable. And intrigue — a gap that made them need to keep watching. The epiphany was that intrigue on its own is just confusion with better packaging. "You won't believe this" — okay, but why should I care? Now compare that to "I'm 52 and here are three ways mushrooms helped me get my energy back." That hook has self-interest for the target audience, it's newsworthy because of the unexpected ingredient, there's a quick-and-easy promise built into "three ways," and there's intrigue because you want to know how mushrooms connect to energy. Four layers. One sentence. That's why it stops the scroll. Every hook you write should hit at least two of these. The ones that hit all four are the ones that scale.

Whenever a founder’s LinkedIn post flops, I can trace it back to one cause: the hook. The good news is, hooks are a formula. Here are 6 ways to write better LinkedIn hooks (without relying on cringe templates that make you want to delete your profile to preserve your honor): Quick credibility blurb: I’ve spent the past 7 years writing on LinkedIn, and have helped over 50 B2B founders launch their presence on the platform. Probably written or edited over 10,000 posts. Concerning. (1) Negativity bias. Human brains are wired to focus on the negative (like it or not). You can fight against this, or you can tastefully use it to your advantage. Try framing your next post around something your customer wants to get away from. Notice how I got you with this in the post you're reading…you don’t want your next hook to flop, do you? (2) Specific numbers. Ideally, monetary figures. This is why sharing revenue numbers works so well, and why green-screen-talking-head short form creators often write hooks like “[Popular Brand]’s $75M Marketing Playbook.” Don’t hate the player…just do it tastefully. (3) Narrative. Stop with the stale, sterile “how-to hooks.” Package the same idea as a story. Stories are the preferred way for humans to consume information. Use this in your hooks. (4) Credibility-jacking. Use popular names and figures in your hooks. You’re essentially “borrowing” credibility from the subject. Funny story about this one. Last week, another ghostwriting agency CEO did one of these hooks using one of OUR clients. The audacity! To his credit, it went viral. (5) Lists. David Ogilvy is one of the greatest advertising minds in history; he’s also a great writer. And in his work, you’ll find a ton of lists. Lists are such an easy way to package information. They also create an information gap. If I say I’m giving you 6 ways to avoid bad hooks, you need to read the rest of the post to learn all 6. (6) Visuals. This one’s sneaky. The hook isn’t just what appears before the “See More” line. You can also use your media as a hook. You should. Right now, I’m finding that IRL photos perform better than overly branded graphics. Don’t force media when you don’t have to (I didn’t here), but when you do, treat it like MrBeast treats his thumbnails. Can you make me a promise? Next time you write a post, before you press publish, run your hook through this checklist. If you don’t see at least 2-3 of the above levers in the copy…you should rework it. Hope this helps. Follow along for more ways to improve your founder-led LinkedIn content.

You have 1.7 seconds to capture attention on LinkedIn. No matter how valuable your content is - if your hook doesn’t grab attention, you're invisible. After helping 20+ SaaS CEOs grow their presence on LinkedIn, here’s what I've found makes an exceptional hook: 1. Establish authority quickly – Clearly state why you’re credible in the first two lines. Avoid generic tips without context. Readers need to know why they should trust you. 2. Tell a compelling story – Humans are wired for stories. Frame your hook around a specific, relatable narrative. Here's how this looks in practice: ❌ "Here’s 3 tips for getting clients from LinkedIn" (Generic, untrustworthy, and boring) ✅ "Last week I sat down with a SaaS founder doing $1M ARR who was struggling on LinkedIn. Here’s how we grew her reach by 225% in just 7 days (with one simple change):" (Authority + Story + Intrigue) David Ogilvy famously said: “On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” Your hook is your headline. Nail the hook, and you're already 80% there. P.S. Next time, try framing your hook as a story from a recent customer conversation or a pivotal career experience.

Want to write better hooks? Study print journalism. 📰 On LinkedIn, the constraints of print are much more instructive than SEO headline strategy for the general internet. You only have a certain amount of space to grab readers’ attention and make them click “read more” — the equivalent of picking up the paper or magazine. Unlike writing to optimize for search, when you want your headline to clearly answer a question, a LinkedIn hook has to capture attention and appeal to people who aren’t seeking a particular answer. Your readers aren’t in search mode — they’re in meander mode. They’re just scrolling. You have to give them a reason to stop. 🛑 That doesn’t mean you trick readers with clickbait. It means you figure out the most compelling element of your post and put it at the top, which is exactly how you write print headlines. I recently wrote a post about unpaid internships that’s gotten 1.6 million impressions, 8k reactions and hundreds of comments and reposts. I think the hook really helped: “When I was 23 and desperate to break into the magazine world, I turned down an internship at Time, Inc.” The point of the post was to share my personal experience to demonstrate what I see as a larger, persistent problem in the media industry — that unpaid internships create inequity because not everyone can afford to take them. But that wasn’t the hook. That came at the end. If the hook had been “Unpaid internships create inequity in the media world,” it could have done fine. I doubt it would have gotten the traction it did with the personal hook. That one works because it gives the exploring reader a question they want answered: Why would someone trying to break into the industry walk away from an opportunity at one of the top publications in the country? When I was a print journalist, I learned fast that the headline to a community board story could not be “Community board meets to discuss historical awning proposal.” 🥱 The headline needed to be “Residents rail against 78th St awning; ‘it’s an abomination.’” 😮 This was for a free local newspaper, and we knew that most people walking by our newsbox on the way to the subway weren’t thinking “Gee I wonder what the community board discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.” But if they saw the headline, they might think, “what in the name of Pete are these people getting so riled up about?? I have to know.” So think of the LinkedIn feed as a graffiti- and dirt-covered metal box at the corner of 59th and 5th, and your hook is the headline on the newspaper inside that box. Is it compelling enough to make someone open that grimy handle and grab a copy to read on their commute?