How to write a hook that stops the scroll

A slideshow lives or dies on its first slide. Nobody reads slide three of a post they did not swipe on. So the hook is not one part of the post, it is the part that decides whether the rest exists.

Keep it under eight words

People decide in well under a second. A hook has to be read in a glance, which in practice means one line of big text. If it wraps to three lines on a phone, it is a paragraph, not a hook.

Make a statement, not a question

Questions are easy to scroll past because the viewer can answer them in their head. A statement creates a gap. "5 habits I stole from people who never burn out" makes you want to know which five. "Do you burn out?" does not.

Open a loop the last slide closes

The best hooks promise something specific and make the viewer swipe to collect it. A number helps: five habits, three mistakes, one setting. The final slide pays the promise off, and that is where your call to action lives.

Shapes that keep working

• A number and a secret: "3 settings most people never turn on"
• A mild confession: "I ignored this for a year. Big mistake."
• Before and after: "My mornings before and after one change"
• The contrarian take: "You do not need a morning routine"
• Borrowed authority: "What people who never miss a day do differently"

None of these mention the product. That is on purpose. The hook earns attention, the slides earn trust, and the last slide is where you ask for the download.