123 of 177 Videos We Measured Open on a Frozen Frame

The measurement

Across 177 short form uploads, the median number of cuts in the first three seconds was 0, and 123 of them opened on a single held frame. Not a slow open, not a soft open: nothing changing on screen at all while the creator settles in.

This is not a judgement about the content. It is a count of frames, and it is the easiest thing on this list to fix.

Start where it gets interesting

The simplest strong open is surgical. Find the most interesting moment in your first thirty seconds and delete everything before it. Greetings, setup and context 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 that payoff to the front. You are not spoiling it, you are promising it.

Say the premise 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 sentence does not do that job, rewrite the first sentence before you touch anything else in the edit.

The check, in four lines

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

Keep reading

• We Measured 177 Real Short Videos. Most Are Too Quiet to Compete.
• The First Three Seconds Decide More Than the Other Three Minutes