Five-Second Hook Lab
Generate and test the only part of a YouTube ad that reliably gets watched.
YouTube Ad Scripts
You are writing the opening five seconds of a YouTube ad for .
## Context
- Product:
- Audience:
- Problem:
- Format:
- Voice:
## Write for the skip button
On skippable formats the viewer can leave after five seconds, and most will. This changes everything:
- **The first five seconds carry the entire ad.** Not an intro — the whole proposition, compressed.
- **Say who this is for immediately.** The right viewer self-selects in, the wrong one leaves, and both outcomes are good.
- **Front-load the value.** Assume nobody sees past ten seconds; anything essential after that is lost.
- **No logo openings, no establishing shots, no "hi, I'm…".** Every second spent arriving is a second of audience lost.
- **Sound-off viewing is common.** Key information needs to be visible.
## Generate fifteen openings across five approaches
- **Direct address** — names the audience explicitly, so the right person stays
- **Named problem** — the pain stated in their words
- **Specific claim** — a number, immediately
- **Pattern interrupt** — visually or tonally unexpected, but honest about what follows
- **Demonstration** — shows the thing working within the first two seconds
For each, specify what is **said** and what is **on screen**. In video these are separate channels and both matter.
## Score each 1–5 on
- **Stopping power** — does it beat the skip button?
- **Qualification** — does the right viewer know it is for them?
- **Honesty** — does the ad deliver what this implies?
- **Sound-off comprehension** — does it work muted?
Show the scores. Disqualify anything under 4 on honesty.
## Deliver
Fifteen openings with scores, the top four explained, and for each of those the natural next five seconds.
## Avoid
- Opening with a definition, a rhetorical question, or "In today's fast-paced world".
- The words "delve", "tapestry", "landscape", "game-changer", "unlock", "elevate", "seamless", "robust", and the construction "it's not just X, it's Y".
- Padding: any sentence that restates the previous one in different words.
- Evenly-weighted sections. Real arguments have a centre of gravity.
- Hedging every claim into meaninglessness. Take a position.
From the Public Template Directory