The First Three Seconds Decide More Than the Other Three Minutes

What a weak open looks like, measurably

In the videos we analyze, the most common opening is a single held shot: the creator on camera, settling in, saying some version of hey everyone before anything happens. No cut in the first three seconds, little motion, and the actual point of the video arriving late.

You do not need to guess whether that describes your video. Count the cuts in your first three seconds and note when the premise lands. If the answer is zero cuts and the premise arrives after ten seconds, you have found your highest leverage fix.

Start at the moment it gets interesting

The simplest strong open is surgical: find the most interesting moment in your first thirty seconds and cut everything before it. Greetings, context, and windups can come after the viewer has a reason to care, or often never.

If your video pays off at the end, pull a glimpse of the payoff to the front. You are not spoiling it, you are promising it.

Say the premise out loud, immediately

A viewer should be able to repeat your premise back after three seconds. Not the topic, the premise: what happens in this video and why it might matter to them. If your first line does not do that job, rewrite the first line before you touch anything else.

The checklist

• •At least one cut or camera change in the first three seconds.
• •The premise stated in the first sentence, not the third.
• •No greeting before the reason to stay.
• •Watch it muted: something should visibly happen before the three second mark.

Keep reading

• What Scoring Hundreds of Real Videos Taught Us
• Titles That Earn the Click: What Actually Matters