- Let's take a look at what TV shows like "24"
nail over and over again.
There's a simple lesson that we can take
from series television to YouTube.
(robotic music)
There are two hooks in every video.
First, let's look at the most obvious.
When I think about how I first started watching "24",
what I remember mostly about that show
was the fact that I couldn't stop watching.
And I'm usually in bed by 10 o'clock,
but every single season, the sun would be coming up
and I would be sitting here telling myself,
"Why? Why am I still up watching this show?"
That is how good the writers were
at moving the viewer from episode to episode.
"24" would shift the storyline.
They'd drop something intriguing in,
something completely not expected.
And this would cause tension in my brain.
I would ask, "What's happening?
What do you mean he just figured it out?"
What? The president's involved?
How was the president involved? When did that happen?"
The only way to resolve that tension for me in the show
would be literally to watch the next episode.
No matter what time it was.
Now this is very much like a title and thumbnail.
Think about being on the homepage.
You're scrolling through your feed
and you have all these different creators all around you,
but when you come across that right title and thumbnail,
that one that just makes you stop.
It makes you curious.
And then you read the title and you just have to click.
That's that same tension.
And that's where everything begins in the "24" method.
It begins with the click.
The title and thumbnail,
that is the real beginning of your hook,
not the first few seconds of your video.
This is why it's crucial that you take the time
to plan out your titles and your thumbnails
before you script and definitely before you shoot.
This is what the writers of "24" did so expertly.
They would give just the right amount of intrigue
so that you had to click and then,
they would do it all over again.
This is very much like the goal of the YouTube algorithm.
It's wanting to get a longer watch session.
This is about identifying which videos can do that.
And those videos that win here,
they are the ones that get surfaced.
YouTube will do the work to find the target audience
for your video.
And then with all these positive viewer signals,
and people watching more and more
and being happy on the platform,
those are the channels that went out in the end.
But so far,
all you've done is get me to click into the video.
Now, I need you to help resolve this tension
that I've got in my brain.
The thing though, is we need to stop the hockey stick.
I give you full permission to catch me off guard,
but be careful.
Don't start by repeating
what I just saw on the title and thumbnail.
Drop me into a moment, or even better,
drop me into mid-sentence.
I want you to think of Bo Peep here.
Stay with me.
Bo Peep had a staff with a big hook at the end.
Every time that you write out a hook for a video,
I want you to think of this staff.
And I want you to picture putting it around your viewer
and pulling them into your video.
A hook by definition is meant to catch somebody's attention.
Build off what I clicked in for.
This will help to confirm that I'm in the right place.
Then continue building that tension
through those first 10 to 15 seconds.
Your peak tension should be at the very end of your hook.
This is where analytics can really be your friend.
I want you to take screen grabs
of all your retention graphs.
Well, not all of them, maybe the last 20.
And in a spreadsheet,
I want you to just kind of stack them on different rows.
I want you to also track the actual time of your hook.
I want you to look at what's going on.
Do you have a bigger drop than normal on some videos?
On others, is it shorter?
What are the similarities?
On the videos where you seem to be nailing it,
go back in and watch those with your retention graphs.
What did you do right?
And then if you have massive loss,
what aren't you doing?
Find the patterns.
But once you've slowed that loss,
there's more work to be done.
You've done the work to get them into your video.
You've even done the work
to hook them further into your story.
Now, you're gonna do the skillful work
of moving them through your story to the end of your video.
But this is where I see creators trip up yet again.
Just prior to the end.
This is a crucial concept
and makes all the difference in discoverability
and how well you're actually
going to extend that watch session.
You've got a captive audience at the end.
Think about it.
When you're on the homepage,
you are in competition with everybody.
Including Mr. Beast, Mark Rober,
probably even a few cat videos.
But 20 seconds before the end of your video,
the spotlight is all on you.
This is about maximizing that time.
Don't make the same mistake
that I see creators make all the time.
Using ending language.
Things like, "So, if you liked this video,"
things like that.
Or, "Like and subscribe," cut that part.
Give me a reason.
Start thinking about "24".
They gave me a reason more intrigued
to watch that next episode.
I had to watch.
I needed to resolve that tension in my brain.
When you effectively move somebody
from one piece of content to another,
you help YouTube understand
the through line between your content.
And the more viewers that watch,
extending that viewing session,
YouTube starts to really understand who your content is for.
Be intentional here.
If you're not a scriptor, I want you to script.
At least your hook and your ending hook or outro.
Because timing matters.
If you take too long in the beginning to deliver that value,
you're going to have loss.
The hockey stick.
Same thing at the end.
If you take too long to get to it,
you can also potentially have loss.
Timing is important, but here's the real key.
You wanna be delivering something of value
five to 10 seconds into that end screen
so that when that video title and thumbnail
of the thing that you're pitching to comes up,
you're starting to cause tension in the viewer's mind.
Then you're gonna make the very quick shift
to telling me why I need to watch that title and thumbnail
that just came up.
Because this is an opportunity
you don't have on the homepage.
Remember there you have competition.
Here on the end screen, you have a captive audience.
Make it count.
But understanding how to extend the watch session,
that's just one viewer signal
that the YouTube algorithm cares about.
Understanding what elements make content and a channel great
can be learned by breaking down creators
that really have these principles nailed.
Delayna does just that for Doctor Mike,
who has millions of subscribers
and consistently gets millions of views on his videos.
The lessons here are important to understand.
Click right here to see how you can apply these lessons
for your channel.
See what I did right there? I gave you a why to click.
Go ahead. I'll meet you there.