HOOKS

The art of getting attention

in a 3-second world

S.J. NOORMAN
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
3 Hooks 101

5 The Psychology Of Hooks

6 Hook Writing Rules

7 Biggest Hook Mistakes

8 10 Best Hook Types

9 The Flex Hook

10 The Analogy Hook

11 The Authority Hook

12 The Question Hook

13 The Effortless Hook

14 The Emotional Hook

15 The Polarizing Hook

16 The Pain-Point Hook

17 The Relatability Hook

18 The Contradicting Hook

19 Bonus 1: Hook Worth $120M

20 Bonus 2: The Rolls-Royce Hook

21 Final Thoughts

COPYRIGHT © 2023 S.J. NOORMAN

2 All rights reserved.
 Hooks 101

This short e-book will teach you the art of hooks.

This will allow you to capture your reader's

attention in the first sentence.

So what are hooks and why should you use them?

Let's look at a few average attention spans.

2000 2013 Goldfish

This was 3 years before Tiktok even got started.

So I'd argue you only have 3 seconds to capture

someone's attention right now.

3 seconds.

That's why your hook has to stand out.

If you can't do this, you will fail.

3 Luckily this book will teach you how to do this.

 I want you to start seeing yourself as a fisherman.

Imagine the best fisherman in the world.

One day he goes out fishing.

But he forgets his bait.

Do you think he'll capture any fish?

Of course not.

He didn't give the fish a reason to bite.

It's the same with writing.

You can write the best tweet or thread ever.

But if the hook sucks, nobody will read it.

This is why your hook deserves a lot of attention.

If you don't pay attention to it, you won't be able

to capture other people's attention with it.

I paid my mentors a lot for the knowledge I’m

about to give you.

I got insane results with it and I’m sure you will too.

So let's dive right into it!

4
 The Psychology Of Hooks

Your hook is the first thing your reader sees.

It needs to do 3 things:
Grab attention
Be relevant for the right reader
Get the reader curious to continue reading

This is why brand positioning is important.

Without a clear niche, you also won't have a

clear audience.

This makes it harder to make your hooks relevant

for the reader.

Focus on these 5 things when writing hooks:

Usefulness. Focus on one useful idea.
Relevance. Make it relevant for your ideal
reader so they're more likely to read it.
Awareness. Make sure your ideal reader will
understand what you're talking about.
Results. Inform the reader of the benefits
they'll get if they read your tweet.
Emotion. The best hooks tap into the reader's
emotions, f.e. curiosity, excitement, or fear.
Aim for their pain points or desires.

These things will make your hooks stand out.

5
 Hook Writing Rules

Hooks aren’t an exact science.

What works depends on the feelings of people.

Which makes it hard to predict what will work.

That being said, there are some general

unspoken rules for writing hooks.

Spark curiosity.
Write to one person.
Make your hooks concise.
Write with the reader in mind.
Make it relatable or shocking.
Keep hooks short (1-2 sentences).
Make it seem easy and low effort.
Focus on evoking one emotion (rule of one).
Make them relevant to your target audience.
Use numbers, unique things, or intriguing facts.
Add attention-grabbing images when
appropriate.

These rules aren't set in stone.

But good hooks usually follow most of these rules.

You now know enough to write great hooks.

So let's talk about mistakes you need to avoid.

6
 Biggest Hook Mistakes

The biggest mistakes are mainly not doing the

things I just explained.

But I won't repeat myself.

There are other things you need to avoid as well.

Here are 6 common mistakes:

Having a weak premise.
Not agitating the problem.
Not showing the transformation.
Using language that's too niche.
Trying to be clever instead of clear.
Giving away the answer in the headline.

These mistakes make your hook:

Weak
Boring
Unclear

So make sure you avoid it.

You'll write great hooks if you avoid this and if you

follow what we've talked about so far.

But I'll still tell you my 10 favorite hooks now.

You now understand why it works, so pick the ones

you like best and start experimenting for yourself!
7
 10 Best Hook Types

I'll explain the 10 hooks I like best.

There are more hooks but these 10 give you

enough great options.

I'll give you practical examples and templates so

you can use them for yourself.

Here's my current top 10:

Flex hook
Curiosity hook
Authority hook
Question hook
Effortless hook
Emotional hook
Polarizing hook
Pain-point hook
Relatability hook
Contradicting hook

It's hard to label hooks because they overlap.

You might have labeled some of them differently.

But I'll give you clear examples that should give

you a good idea of what I mean by them.

The templates are guidelines, not rules.

Use them but also think for yourself.

8
 The Flex Hook

The flex hook uses an achievement.

You write about something you've achieved that

others also want to achieve.

People will want to hear what you have to say

because you already achieved the thing they're
aiming for.

Example:

Template:
I _ [the desirable thing you've achieved].

Easy and powerful.

The real work here is achieving the thing you're

9 flexing with.
 The Analogy Hook

This hook is great if you want to simplify ideas or

concepts.

I also use it to add humor to my content by using

metaphors and similes to illustrate points.

You leverage the existing knowledge of the

reader to help them understand something new.

Example:

Template:
[Topic 1] is like [Topic 2].

[Explanation of why the two are similar].

Humor is great, but don't force it.

Analogies are a great and fun way to educate

your audience by leveraging their knowledge.

The only downside is that they're hard to come up

with.
10
 The Authority Hook

The authority hook gives you social proof.

It shows you know what you're talking about.

You use a statement, case study, or something

else to show your authority and expertise.

Example:

Template:
(How) I [something you did that others want].

[Benefit they'll get if they read it].

The combination of social proof and a desirable

outcome is extremely powerful.

These templates aren't set in stone.

But you can see how they worked for others.

That's the point of it.

Test it out for yourself and see what works for you.
11
 The Question Hook

The question hook isn't a platitude one-liner.

It's a hook to get the reader to start thinking.

The question is meant to make them curious

enough to continue reading to find out what you
have to tell them.

Example:

Template:

[Relevant question].

[Short answer].

[Concise insight].

This makes your tweet stand out.

The tweet above got much more engagement

than "always put in the work!" tweets.
12
 The Effortless Hook

This hook is powerful because most people want

a quick fix to solve their problems.

That's why this hook focuses on making the

solution to a problem sound effortless.

Because it seems like an easy solution, people will

want to read it because it means they can
overcome their problems with less effort.

Example:

Template:

[Desirable outcome + easy solution].

Words like instantly, effortlessly, easy, and easily

work very well for this hook.
13
 The Emotional Hook

The emotional hook is used to stir up emotions.

It works by touching on a pain point, strong

desire, shocking event, or relatable scenario.

This gets the viewer emotionally invested into your

content and this makes it more likely that they'll
engage or feel connected to you.

Example:

Template:

[Event, pain point, desire, or relatable scenario].

[How to do it or what they can learn from it].

There isn't a right order except for starting with

the main thing like Kieran did in the tweet above.
14
 The Polarizing Hook

This hook makes a strong or even controversial

statement to create two different sides.

It creates a split in opinions which makes it more

likely that people will interact with it.

This is how you create both fans and haters.

Don't go overboard with it but use it in a

respectful manner to attract like-minded people.

Example:

Template:
[Statement which people either love or hate].

The point is that people have no choice but to

agree or disagree with your statement.

You either think Glenn's a dick for hating on 4am

or you love him because it strongly resonates with
you.

No room for middle ground with polarizing.

15
 The Pain-Point Hook

This hook highlights a pain point your reader has.

You point out the reader's problem, agitate it,

and suggest your content will help to solve it.

This works because it speaks directly to the

reader's desire to solve their problems.

Example:

Template:
[Highlight the problem your reader has].

[Give them inspiration that they can solve it].

[Present your content as the solution].

You must solve this problem for yourself first so

people will actually believe and trust you.
16
 The Relatability Hook

This hook is meant to connect with your audience

to become relatable to them.

You share your stories, feeling,s or struggles so

that they can relate to them.

This creates a 'we're in this together' feeling and

this makes the reader more like to engage.

Example:

Template:

[Relatable event].

[Agitate it].

[What you did or are doing about it].

17 This makes people like you more.

 The Contradicting Hook

The contradiction hook uses a surprise twist.

It says something unexpected that makes the

reader curious.

This hook works because it breaks the

predictable pattern and this makes people want
to keep reading.

Example:

Template:

[Statement].
[Contradict statement].
[Concise explanation].

You can use this whenever you have an opinion

that differs from what many people think.

18
 Bonus 1: Hook Worth $120M

E. Albuquerque made $120+ million in 2 years.

How?

By using his one core belief method.

How does it work?

By targeting one core belief.

Your goal is to move them from the way they think

to a new way of thinking.

In his book 'The 16-Word Sales Letter' he explains

the 10 questions you need to make this happen:
How is this different from everything else I've
seen?
What's in it for me?
How do I know this is real?
What's holding me back?
Who/What is to blame?
Why now?
Why should I trust you?
How does it work?
How can I get started?
What do I have to lose?

This is how he made millions as a copywriter.

19 So start using this list to level up your hooks.

 Bonus 2: The Rolls-Royce Hook

David Ogilvy made an incredibly successful ad

for Rolls-Royce.

How?

He calls it the steal from the news technique.

How does it work?

You take a trending piece of news and

incorporate it into your marketing message.

He stole: "At 60 mph the loudest noise comes

from the electric clock."

And turned this press review of the car into:

20 It's known as one of the best ad campaigns ever.

 Final Thoughts

As I said, hooks aren’t an exact science.

I don’t have an exact formula.

The templates are examples.

But if you combine those examples with:

The hook goals
The underlying rules
The psychology of hooks

Then I’m certain you’ll write irresistible hooks.

It takes practice so test out lots of things and see

what works.

I'm still learning to do this myself as well and

writing this book has definitely helped me.

Let's both do our best to become some of the

best hookers (wait ...?) on Twitter!

If you want help with hooks or anything related to

writing and audience building, feel free to DM
me or check my bio for (free) services/products.

I hope this was useful and I would love to hear

your thoughts on the book my friend!

S.J. Noorman
21