Write your first 30 seconds before you record, not after. Describe the video you are about to make and Hook Doctor writes six openings you can read straight into the camera, each built on a different retention pattern. Already filmed? Switch to Rate mode for an honest read on the intro you have. Free, in your browser, nothing stored.
Why the hook has to exist before the camera rolls
Most hook advice arrives too late. You film the video, upload it, watch the retention graph fall off a cliff inside the first thirty seconds, and by then the only real fix is a re-record. The opening is a writing problem, and writing problems are cheapest to solve before you press record.
A viewer arrives having clicked a title. If your first few sentences do not pay that title off, they leave before the part you worked hardest on. That is why every opening this tool writes leads with the payoff and cuts the greeting.
What you get
- Six openings for the video you are planning, each on a different retention pattern: result first, the contradiction, the mistake, the stakes, the demo first, the question they already have
- The exact first sentence, the one that has to land inside five seconds
- The full opening to read to camera, in plain spoken English
- What to put on screen while you say it
- Three openings to avoid for your specific topic
- A Rate mode for intros you have already filmed
- Free, no signup. Use your own AI key for one-click results, or copy the prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini for nothing
How to use it
- Describe the video: what it is about, who it is for, and what the viewer can do by the end that they could not before.
- Add a concrete proof point if you have one, but only something true.
- Click Write my six hooks. With no AI key set, the tool copies the prompt for you to paste into any chat, free.
- Read the openings out loud. The one that still sounds like you when spoken is the one to use.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an API key? No. Leave the provider on None and the tool copies a ready made prompt to paste into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. A key only saves you the paste.
Will it invent claims about my video? No. The prompt forbids inventing facts, numbers, results or credentials you did not supply. Give it nothing to prove and it writes openings built on curiosity instead.
What if I have already filmed? Use the Rate tab. Paste the spoken opening and it scores the hook, names what is wrong, tells you exactly what to cut, and offers three tighter rewrites.