Erkenntnisse des weltbesten Skript Writers für YouTube Videos:
Videos with well working HOOKS
VIDEO 1:
4 Super Easy Ways To TRANSFORM Your After Effects Projects
What worked
(1/2) Transformation
The highly visual before vs after straight out of the gate gives us a clear reason to watch.
It illustrates the transformation we can expect by watching to the end.
(2/2) Context
Scott always gives us context for why we might need to learn each skill before showing us.
And this is something a lot of people get wrong.
Your viewers don’t automatically care about… well, anything! …without being given context to explain why they should.
I mean, who’s getting excited about chromatic abberation without first seeing, in context, what the heck it means?
Good stuff from Scott.
What to improve
(1/3) Sticky Cuts
These currently feel a little bit stunted between cuts.
Especially when cutting from A-Roll → A-Roll?
J-cuts would have been useful in making this seem smoother
Scott uses some interesting transitions when cutting from A-Roll → title cards, but I’d prefer to have seen this across the whole video.
(2/3) CTA
I thought I’d better mention this as my CTA thread has been doing the rounds again this week.
To summarise, the CTA in Scott’s video is too vague. It’s not compelling me to watch.
The aim should be to get your audience from “interested” to committed.
It’s the difference between…
<aside> ❌ “To learn more tips and tricks, watch this.”
</aside>
…and…
<aside> ✅ “Now you know how to [XYZ], but you won’t be able to [apply this / take your skills to the next level] until you learn these [X] skills, so check out this video next.”
</aside>
There aren’t any “cheat codes” with YouTube, but my 3-Step CTA is honestly the closest thing I’ve found, and usually gets results like this
VIDEO 2:
AI Copyright Law in June 2023: What it Means For AI Artists
What worked
(1/2) Audience Avatar
This creator immediately calls out the fears of his audience:
- “I have no idea how AI copyright works”
- “I don’t know how to protect my own work.”
- “I’m worried about infringing the copywrite of others.”
- “I expect the terminology to be difficult to comprehend in this matter.”
Samson addresses all of these fears out and reassures us instantly that none of these things will be a problem if we give him our time.
(2/2) Clarity
Especially when dealing with a topic like this, clarity is everything.
You’re constantly running the risk of people clicking away if you lose their attention with overcomplication explanations.
But Samson avoids this with his presentation style.
The video doesn’t feel like a guru yelling terminology at us.
Instead, he’s exploring the topic with us, highlighting the evidence and examples necessary to comprehend the discussion, before giving us his take.
We feel invited in, not lectured at.
What to improve
(1/2) Style change
While Samson continues making interesting points beyond 6-7 mins, the style switches away from a naturalistic building of information to something resembling a Q&A.
This is fine, but I’d have liked to have seen those questions answered organically during the main part of the video.
In fact, some questions (e.g. “how do I protect my work?”) are answered during the video, so it didn’t feel necessary to re-address them.
The retention line starts to track a little closer to the average when the style switches.
(2/2) Momentum
I distinguish this from “pacing”, and here’s why…
The hook is succinct.
The delivery of information is similarly well-spaced.
But there are a couple of editing choices that occasionally make the momentum feel a bit off.
The first is a lack of music. Maybe this was an intentional choice, but I would have preferred a little ambience.
The second are the slow (or strange) cuts. Occasionally, pauses last a little longer than feel natural, which could be sorted with tighter editing.
Or, when we cut to a second angle camera that’s so similar to the main angle, Samson’s eyes travel 0.5° to the left… and it just felt a bit strange 😅
Takeaway
If you feel the need to add extra info to the end, first check if it can be distributed throughout the main body of the video.
VIDEO 3: Poor Girl Becomes a Princess Overnight!
What worked
(1/2) Foreshadowing
The video sets up the overall premise within 20s.
But then reveals the twists, foreshadowing the various obstacles that are gonna come between the characters and their goal.
As a result of that, we know what to expect throughout, which is massive for keeping an audience hooked.
Related to that, let’s talk about…
(2/2) Mini-payoffs
I always say how important it is to make your audience aware of the next thing they’re waiting for.
Especially when a video is long (this one is 22min), we need to know the specific points of interest between now and the end.
This is smartly set up using an early visual aid:
The progression is crystal clear.
And because of the earlier foreshadowing, we know the impetus for progression is gonna be exciting.
What to improve
(1/2) Payoff
It didn’t feel totally satisfying to have the final decision based on something that basically happened off-screen.
Maybe part of the channel strategy is to be super community-engaged (which is cool!).
But speaking purely as a viewer, this felt like a drop down from the drama we’d seen throughout. I expected the final decision to be based on the most extreme challenge yet.
While retention isn’t affected here, it’s important to remember that what you do in one video will influence how likely people are to click your next one.
If we feel like the payoff is underwhelming, we’re way less likely to come back.
(2/2) Clarity
There were some occasions where, between swapping POVs and the siblings freaking out, it wasn’t super clear what was going on (especially during the lights-out segment (S4)).
I wonder if the addition of VO during post-production could help with this clarity.
Having worked with a couple of entertainment channels, I know I’d really struggle to make a video make sense without tying it together using voiceover.
Confusion is one of the first causes of someone clicking away, and VO is a simple way to hold the audience’s hand and regain their attention if they start to get confused.
Takeaway
A strong or weak payoff may not always affect retention. But it will affect how likely the viewer is to watch your next video.
VIDEO 4: You Were Gaslit Into Liking Milk
What worked
(1/2) Hook
The video opens with super recognisable context which brings the audience in.
Almost everyone drinks one kind of milk or other, and will be familiar with the constant, raging debate around which type of milk you choose to drink.
By opening with recognisable context + figures (e.g. Joe Rogan), we feel like a part of the discussion.
The video then opens a significant curiosity gap with the appearance of Aubrey Plaza presenting a strange milk ad.
(2/2) Skits
The creator brilliantly breaks down the hypocrisy around milk consumption during S3.
He’s able to simply summarise the reason why everyone in the US school system is (or was?) mandated to drink a glass of milk per day.
Again, this is something a lot of people will be familiar with but might not know the backstory to.
By breaking this down succinctly and amusingly, my curiosity is satisfied (and I’m also having a laugh).
What to improve
(1/2) Foreshadowing
The creator mentions that the government are responsible for our engineered love of milk at the start…
But then this isn’t brought up again for ages.
Until we get into the history of milk at around 4 minutes, I’m no longer sure what we’re building towards, which is a problem for retention (as reflected during S2).
It would have been good to foreshadow the sinister undertones of the story once or twice more before the 4 min mark, raising the stakes.
(2/2) Framing
Related to this, when we pivot to a history of milk 4 minutes in…
I’ve kinda forgotten what the final payoff was going to be.
Don’t get me wrong, the Aubrey Plaza stuff is great for context setting…
But I really want to get into the meat of the issue faster - real history, real conflicts of interest, real corruption, etc.
As I’ve often said, mini-payoffs should be natural building blocks towards main payoff, but the progression doesn’t quite feel like it adheres to this.
Takeaway
Loading the hook with recognisable context makes the audience immediately feel like part of the discussion, rather than an outsider looking in.
VIDEO 5: I Finally Tried the LEGO Keyboard... (And You Should Too)
What worked
(1/2) Motifs
This isn’t something written about before, but it’s an awesome technique for deepening the relationship with your audience.
Hipyo has little audio or visual cues which pop up throughout his video (e.g. his cartoon face or the little “ooh yeah!” noise he makes).
While this may be innocuous enough for new viewers, it’s something returning viewers start to recognise.
It makes them feel like they’re getting to know the creator more personally. It’s kinda like being invited into a more exclusive ‘inner-circle’.
Whether it’s Mike Shake saying “YESGO”, or Ryan Trahan slapping a burrito, a lot of the most successful creators use these motifs.
(2/2) Humour
Related to the last point, Hipyo’s motifs contribute to an overall style that makes this review pretty funny.
Safe to say, I’d never previously seen a video about a keyboard that had me chuckling.
No subject is too bland to inject your unique personality into!
What to improve
(1/2) Pacing
Overall the review feels slow.
There’s definitely some extraneous exposition during the first couple of minutes, with a little too long spent talking about all the pieces, the box, etc. We see a retention spike at around 1:30 when the review actually starts.
As is often the case, it comes down to being hyper-aware of what the audience has come to see, and I would argue that listing off the contents of the box is potentially overstepping what people care about, seeing as they’ll see the contents during the build.
A little more volume on the music could have boosted the pacing too. It’s not really audible as it stands, which makes the review feel less dynamic.
(2/2) Topic Framing
It’s hard to tell what the purpose of the video is from the outset.
From the title, it’s not super clear whether this is a review of how easy it is to use, or to build.
Usually, with a keyboard review, I would expect the latter.
In the end, it ends up being both.
The problem is, as someone who’s clicking this video looking for a reason why I should try the Lego keyboard, I don’t really care about seeing the building process (except maybe in passing).
I’m more interested in how it is to use and how it looks when finished (which is reflected in the retention spike near the end as people skip ahead to see the final product).
Additionally, there’s no real tension around whether Hipyo is gonna recommend the keyboard, because the title tells us he probably likes it.
Takeaway
Introducing recognisable motifs into your content builds a deeper connection with your audience, like certain phrases, editing styles, visual cues, etc.
VIDEO 6: I Survived FIFA 23 Without Dribbling
What worked:
(1/3) Stakes
This video begins with a winning formula: Rules + Motivation + Stakes
- Rules = what are the video's constraints -> Messi isn't allowed dribble.
- Motivation = why has the creator imposed those constraints -> to see if Messi will still win, even with an intentional handicap.
- Stakes = what makes us care -> we're told that Ronaldo awaits him in the final, which taps into the decade-long debate over which of these players is better.
All this is delivered within 10 seconds.
(2/3) Title
Within the first 30s, the creator accidentially dribbles with Messi, and immediately takes a forefeit.
This is crucial, because it delivers on the promise of the title:
"Oh wow, he really IS doing this without dribbling," we say to ourselves.
If a video has limitations which seem difficult to impose, demonstrating those limitations in action within the first 30s-60s is critical for retention.
(3/3) CTA
(Spoiler alert) Messi scores the winning goal and the video ends.
Not even half a second is wasted.
What to improve:
(1/2) Payoff
The third part of the above formula ("stakes") is well set up, but the payoff isn't quite as strong.
We've been told at Ronaldo's stats have been deliberately boosted to make him superhuman.
This makes me intrigued to see how ridiculously good he'll be when we finally see him.
But when we get to the final, he barely features.
I understand that that the creator shouldn't fake any gameplay, but we could have taken a moment just before the final match to big him up and ratchet up the tension again.
Or record some additional footage of Ronaldo in cinema mode to make his appearance more dramatic.
(2/2) Tension
To boost tension further, I'd have liked to see more near misses throughout the games.
Most of the time when the creator falls behind, he scores again within seconds.
As a result, I never felt especially worried that he wasn't going to win.
Takeaway:
If your video sets up limitations which seem difficult to impose, demonstrating those limitations in action within 30s-60s is critical for retention.
VIDEO 7: You're Not A Real Man Until You Unf*ck Your Testosterone Levels
The intro to this video has a few things which could have contributed to the dropoff.
Ignore the spike - it’s a cheeky glitch.
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The first shot is handheld which adds a nice personal touch to the video, and sets up a super intriguing premise. Mentioning “balls” right out the gate had my attention! 😂
But I think the first minute features a few too many news clips. We only need a couple of these to give context to the discussion, and the B-Roll overstays its welcome.
It almost feels like it’s padding the video to extend the runtime, rather than spending more time with Jak delivering new information.
Then, by around 3 minutes, we’re at 33% retention and what turned me off can be summed up in two words:
Tucker Carlson 😂
Including B-Roll of Carlson in a discussion about science just doesn’t lend the video credibility, especially when we’re deciding whether to settle in for a 13-minute video about this topic.
I’d have liked to have spent a little more time with Jak, and less with the B-Roll.
VIDEO 8: I Bought HDZero Goggles, This Is What They're Like
What to repeat:
(1/1) Additional cuts
- You’ll notice some classic early dropoff in S1, but Darren wasn’t satisfied with that.
- He realised he’d spent so much time giving context, he wasn’t talking about what people really cared about (the review) until 0:38.
- He’d given a full rundown of everything that would be covered in the video, as well as taking an additional 10s to introduce himself and explain what to expect from his channel.
- Important info? Yes and no. But definitely not worth spending 27s on.
- Through the YouTube editor, he cut out this whole segment, and the review now begins at 0:11.
- And from that point, retention is mostly completely flat. There’s great switching between A-Roll and B-Roll, shots of the product, footage of the drone flight, etc. It’s a great review.
Lesson to be learned here - it’s not too late to make changes once the video is uploaded.
- It may not always be possible, but it’s worth checking your retention after a few days and figuring out if you can cut anything that doesn’t serve the video overall.
What to improve:
(1/1) CTA
- Darren asks twice in this video for people to comment, but doesn’t direct them to another video at the end.
- This comes down to personal choice, but I would usually recommend pointing people to the next video you’d like them to watch.
- Choose a video that covers a similar topic, or which reveals information the viewer feels like they want (but still don’t have) after watching your current video.
- This increases the likelihood the audience will keep watching your content, increases their session time, and indicates to the algorithm that your videos are worth pushing to more viewers (because they keep people on the platform for longer).
VIDEO 9: Chinese Takeout Fried Rice Secrets Revealed
What to repeat:
(1/1) audience avatar (IMPORTANT)
- The moment I started watching this video, I was sure Jason had created an “audience avatar” before writing his script.
- An audience avatar is a fictional character representative of the kind of person who regularly watches your content. So why was I so sure Jason was definitely using one of these?
- Because this video’s hook perfectly overcomes his audience's objections.
- I messaged Jason on Twitter, and this is what he said…
- He went on to tell me exactly how he approaches writing specifically for his audience, even down to the cultural references he includes! It’s pretty mindblowing…
- So Jason identifies the primary worries associated with cooking an amazing meal - that we’ll either need to have crazy ingredients, specific tools, or niche cooking techniques - and reassures us immediately that we shouldn’t worry
- By doing so, he also sells the result right at the start of the video - super important in any tutorial.
- It pays to create an audience avatar - literally, imagine 3 different types of people who might watch your videos. Then figure out their common pain points.
- It’s so much easier to tailor what you say to keep people interested if you already know exactly what their objections/fears/hopes/dreams are.
What to improve:
(1/1) CTA
- I’m not sure we need the caveat about this being only Jason’s preference for how to make the meal - it almost feels like he’s anticipating pushback in the comments if the audience disagrees with his method.
- I doubt people really care. The video already acknowledged that the way he figured out which rice regular takeouts use was “unscientific”, so we know this is all through Jason’s lens.
- By spending time caveating this at the end, we see the biggest dropoff across the whole video, which is a wasted opportunity to get people watching another video of his next.
- On which point, he could have been more specific about which video we should watch next and why it’s something we, as people who enjoyed this video, would benefit from.
Takeaway:
The easiest way to keep people watching is by directly addressing their objections / concerns / presumptions in the hook. How? Create an audience avatar and figure out what those objections are, either by looking through your comments, asking your audience directly, or brainstorming.
VIDEO 10: Why Food Tastes Better at Restaurants (It's Not "More Salt")
What worked
(1/2) B-Roll
- There's some really characterful B-Roll in this video.
- Especially the jaunty shots of salt falling in slow-mo. Charlie could have purely recorded himself while cooking, but by going the extra mile to film these additional moments, it elevates the video's appeal.
(2/2) Audience Avatar
- Charlie understands the level of cooking proficiency his audience has, and directly calls out the method of distributing salt that he knows the majority of them will use.
- In a tutorial, if you can get your audience saying "oh yikes, I do that", you've got them hooked.
What to improve
(1/1) CTA
- I re-wrote this video's Call-To-Action in a tweet thread.
- If you want to write a killer CTA that gets people to watch your next video, check it out:
https://twitter.com/GeorgeBlackman_/status/1638869674665312256
Takeaway
To make people watch your next video, use this killer 3-step CTA formula: Link + Curiosity Gap + CTA/Promise
VIDEO 11: I Purchased Baby RONALDINHO!
What worked:
- Editing is brutal - he evidently cuts out a lot to keep the pace going.
- Varied pace - switching from quick cuts to longer pauses (e.g. at 0:54) allow us time to share his emotion.
What I would change:
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Your video should always be building towards a payoff. This video clearly foreshadows its FIRST payoff, which keeps us watching. But the SECOND payoff is never hinted at, which might explain the second half of the graph…
-
This video is ultimately about buying Ronaldinho (for non-football folk, he’s often considered the best player of all time)
- The first 3:30 are building towards that payoff.
- As that tension builds, retention is highly consistent.
- The editing is pacey, the presenter is funny, and we’re looking forward to the moment we glimpsed in the hook, where he buys the player.
-
Once Ronaldinho is bought, my brain naturally wants to see him in action on the pitch, and this is where the first dip could be explained.
- Because we then see 2+ mins of team admin. This isn’t inherently bad but…
- We no longer have a promised payoff to look forward to - we hope we’ll see Ronaldinho play, but it’s no longer clear what we’re building towards.
- Retention dips, and we see spikes as people click around looking for the next moment Ronaldinho will become the focus of the video.
-
This might explain the sudden spike around 8min.
- This is the moment Ronaldinho is seen on the pitch, scoring a brilliant goal.
- This is the second payoff we’ve been looking for but weren’t told about.
-
This, in turn, explains the dropoff at the end.
- We’ve now seen Ronaldinho bought and played, and we don’t really have anything we NEED to stick around for anymore.
Additionally, this video ends quite abruptly. This creator asked me how to increase their overall views, and one suggestion is providing a clear CTA (call to action) where he tells his viewers which video to watch next.
The algorithm rewards creators who create longer viewer “session times” (i.e. time their audience spends on the platform watching videos), so if you can encourage people to watch even one more of your videos before they close YouTube, this will cause your content to be pushed out to more people
VIDEO 12: Will property prices keep falling?
What worked
(1/2) Hook
One of the many lessons I've learned from Jake Thomas: negativity is a powerful attention-grabber.
(That sounds like an insult - but I'm not talking about his personality 😅)
This video opens with: negativity x broad appeal... because, whether you're a homeowner or a tenant, house prices affect you.
Worrying stats are given instant crediblity with screenshots from financial reports.
And a Christopher Nolan-esque score sets the mood. I'M IN!
(2/2) CTA
This video's CTA follows my formula from last week! (Not claiming credit of course - he made this video months ago!)
Links back to current video (housing market is bad)Opens a curiosity gap (this could actually be good news for you, but only if you take advantage in the next 3-6 months)Delivers a CTA/Promise (click this video and I'll tell you how to take advantage)
And... just look at that end screen CTR 😍
https://embed.filekitcdn.com/e/jg591w24ZuyksegGUG7wUr/wbvF3mWMGESQF8TMZRs26v/email
What to improve
(1/1) Rapid-fire jargon
This video is mostly accessible for anyone, but there's a gradual decline during S4.
Remember, some people watching this video simply want to know:
Whether the value of their house will go down, or...Whether house prices will go low enough for them to get on the ladder.
But suddenly being hit with "interest rates", then "mortgage rates", then "inflation", then drawing a hypothesis from this about how this will affect the bank of England setting interest rates... it's just a lot in 10 seconds.
While I'm still piecing this together, other stats and percentages are already flying my way. The result?
I've lost the plot 🤣
For as long as your viewer feels smart, you've got them hooked. But once they feel outside the loop... it's hard to get them back in.
Takeaway
Your content can absolutely be aimed at non-beginners, but the target audience should be consistent.
If an otherwise beginner-friendly video suddenly goes jargon-heavy, retention will suffer.
VIDEO 13 I Made $___ Selling AI Generated Art
What to repeat:
(1/2) Concept
- The video is fun.
- I liked the different approaches to making money, first with Fiverr, then by printing the art and selling it physically.
(2/2) Hook
- Great opening 10s.
- It’s intriguing, there’s humour, and it provides great context for the video.
- Yes, there’s an overall steep drop over the first 40s, but this could be explained by what I’m about to discuss next…
What to improve:
(1/1) Pacing
- The fast cutting feels overwhelming after a while.
- It isn’t terrible by any means, but it feels like the aim is to just cut, cut, cut to keep the momentum going - even cutting within sentences which gives the speech an unnatural feel at times.
- The fast cutting works well in the hook, but I would have liked to see things slow down for a second once the video properly started.
Take this recent example from Ryan Trahan:
- The hook is pacey (and timed to music which is really fun), but as soon as the hook finishes, you’ll notice the pace slows way down.
- The effect this has is that we feel excited and intrigued during the hook, but then we feel like we’re actually getting to know Ryan when the pace slows.
- It also causes pattern interrupt which re-engages our minds.
- Whereas in Thomas’s video, the non-stop cutting made me feel like we were rushing to get through the content.
- At the start of S3 we’re still racing through the information. This may have contributed to the dropoff.
VIDEO 14: I Magnet Fished 100 Miles of Ocean And Found This!
What to repeat:
(1/3) creating characters from nothing
- The creator meets a dog on the beach and imbues it with personality by describing its (made up) thoughts and motives.
- This then threads back into the story later when the dog is re-referenced.
- This is the advantage you have if you’re shooting a video that’s part-scripted, part-improvised - you can retroactively turn people/animals you met into characters that became crucial to the narrative.
- So ask yourself when you’re on location, “is there the potential to turn anyone into a character and thread them into the narrative of the overall video?”
(2/3) storytelling
- Establishes the context of the video quickly.
- Plays with the tension by repeatedly implying we might be about to land on some big treasure.
- But, even when we don’t ever find it, he presents a nice moral - that the real treasures were the dogs (people, and forks) we meet along the way.
(3/3) pacing
- Watch from the start and see what happens at 0:27.
- This video is another prime example that altering the pacing of your video makes it much more engaging because it causes pattern interrupt in our minds.
What to improve:
(1/1) momentum
- Yes, I am just looking for another way to say ‘pacing’.
- Because as good as the pacing is for the most part, it slows a little too much during S3, which could be responsible for the drop.
- It’s important for your audience to get to know you, but I think it was slightly too indulgant between 1:28-1:46.
- I would have preferring going from “it’s not funny” straight into “Day 2…”
Takeaway
Comedy and personality are absolutely good things, but be careful they don’t impact momentum too much.
VIDEO 15: I Have 100 Days To Beat Explosive Primal Fear
What worked
(1/2) Hook
Breaks down his goal during the hook.
Not only does this make the idea more digestible (step 1, step 2, etc), but it also shows us clear payoffs to look forward to ahead of the finale.
(2/2) Context
After explaining the concept and getting into the action fairly quickly, the creator then zooms out a little to explain a little more context about the game (and the challenges to come).
Taking a moment like this to get everyone on the same page helps the audience feel "in the loop".
Think of it like teaching someone a board game.
You might start by giving them a brief overview of what's going to happen.
Then it's easiest to just start playing a bit so the words you're saying actually mean something in context.
But NOW you can go back to explaining things again, only this time with a little more nuance and depth, because the person you're talking to has a greater understanding than during your first explanation, having seen the game it in action.
What to improve
(1/2) Pattern Interrupt
Watch the first minute after the hook, and see if you can spot what's missing.
- George waits*
Did you feel that?
After the initial tension built by the hook, the video falls into a pattern of "and then, and then, and then".
In fact, the first "but" doesn't come until 1:42 (I checked the transcript 😉).
This risks making the video a little boring because there's nothing to re-engage our brains.
This issue popped up a few times, especially during S2 (where viewers are gradually falling away).
(2/2) Payoffs
The miniboss teased in the hook doesn't appear until 10 minutes and, when it does, it's not the one that was pictured.
For the next five minutes, I no longer knew what we were building towards.
Then, we finally see the creature that was teased in the hook... but it's only to tease us again about its eventual appearance.
It started to feel like the BBC teasing Moriarty's death - it ends up testing the audience's patience.
Takeaway
Be conscious of how you set your audience's expectations during the hook. You only have so many "fake-outs" (even if they're accidental) before they'll lose patience
VIDEO 16 Is it Possible to Escape this Nether Roof Trap?
What worked
(1/2) Curiosity
Creates a huge curiosity gap by presenting two juxtaposing images at the very start:
Spawning in a quiet server for the first time vs being trapped in the Nether (c.f. Hell).
AND we’re told that this descent happened in only 15 minutes.
You wanna aim to get your audience to say “wait, but how?!” during the hook, as this creator does.
(2/2) A-Roll
During any voiceover, we see footage of his in-game character looking to camera.
It creates the impression that his character is talking directly to us, recounting the story of the adventure he’s been on.
This is a quirky way of keeping the video visually interesting during what basically amounts to A-Roll.
What to improve
(1/2) Stakes
Try to be specific about what’s at stake.
Could we have highlighted the most valuable item that was about to be lost every time the creator died?
At a glance, it just looked like he was going to lose some wooden items (i.e. not super valuable in this game).
But Minecraft players would instantly resonate with the stomach-twisting urgency of racing to recover a super valuable item that’s about to despawn.
Without this, a lack of tension underpinned the video. It felt like it would have been just as easy to stop going back to the Nether and putting himself through hardship.
(2/2) Repetition
Ultimately, the challenge didn’t develop much.
There were some exciting moments towards the end (e.g. growing the giant mushrooms to get a last-minute boost), but more or less the entire video is about the character climbing up and up using fairly consistent tactics.
There were a couple of elements introduced during the video to advance things (e.g. using fire to jump higher), but this still amounted to pretty similar footage of the creator jumping over and over.
It may be the case that this video’s core idea wasn’t strong enough.
Takeaway
Be specific about what’s at stake. If you want the audience to emotionally resonate with your content, they need to know what you stand to gain/lose (so they can reflect that back on themselves and see how they’d feel in your shoes)
VIDEO 17 Luffy vs all of One Piece in Minecraft
What to repeat:
(1/2) foreshadowing
- The first 60s is spent setting up the various bosses the protagonist is going to face. He almost loses against some basic foes in the first 30s, so we’re interested to see how he could possibly beat something harder.
- 4:58 - He beats the first boss, and then we’re told: “the next boss is 2x stronger”.
- This reminds us about the high stakes at play, and promises further payoffs.
- It pays to remind the audience of the stakes (especially in a longer video) because it’s easy for a viewer to forget about them when there’s a lot going on.
(2/2) stakes
- The video constantly surprises the viewer. Just when we think the protagonist has completed a certain objective, another unexpected challenge is thrown at him to ramp up the stakes even further.
- If your video has a “protagonist” who has to overcome challenges, consider how you could subvert audience expectations by elevating the stakes even further once we think we know what’s coming.
What to improve:
I was struggling to find problems with this video, but I got some awesome notes from Tim Dervish which looks at the video from an editor’s perspective:
- When it comes to Visuals, they did a great job building up curiosity and mystery with each Boss throughout the video. (Showing them silhouetted)
- However, one major problem I've found is that the SFX and Music, aren't optimally used to build up tension throughout the editing.
- It feels very background-ish and minimal and doesn't build to the next moment of conflict. I found this disheartening to see from such an amazing concept.
- Especially when it comes to the boss fights we could be using stingers, and risers between hits and misses, to really build up the back-and-forth between their fights. But as it is now, it ends up feeling uninspiring and anti-climactic.
Takeaway:
If your video has a “protagonist”, try subverting audience expectations by elevating the stakes even further after they seem to have overcome a hurdle.
VIDEO 18 Table Tennis Pro Tries VR
What to repeat:
(1/1) storytelling
- Watch this video to see some serious (touching!) character GROWTH.
- I love how Mike starts with the aim of “destroying everyone”, but ends by losing (and doesn’t care).
- Mike goes from wanting to win… to realising that the kind strangers he met along the way were more important
- One little thing to emphasize more (or even reword) was the moment at 5:45 where he almost has the realisation that winning isn’t making him happy. It’s currently too vague and isn’t clear what this realisation relates to.
- Instead, Mike could have signposted that this was a feeling specifically related to the game itself.
- Currently: “But I started to realise something that I couldn’t quite describe what it was. Anyway…”
- Reword: “But I realised I was starting to feel something… unexpected. A feeling that was only getting stronger the more I played. A feeling that I… couldn’t quite describe yet.
What to improve:
(1/2) visuals
- The shaky the VR footage is unavoidable here but, because of this, Mike could have cut away from the game footage a little more often.
- Perhaps to the footage of him recording voiceover (which we see a lot).
- Or to A-Roll of him dressed in the VR gear (which we rarely see by itself).
- Had I found this video cold, I’d have been 50/50 about whether to continue watching after the first minute because the VR camerawork is a little sore on the old eyes 😂 And that first minute is where all the dropoff happens.
- I’d also aim to improve the lighting in the non-VR setup. (I guess you’d call it “real life”)
(2/2) pacing
- More voiceover needed on the gameplay. A few times we were watching shaky VR footage in silence. Needed to fill a couple of those silences with some more of that beautiful storytelling VO 😍
Takeaway:
The most powerful storytelling comes when a character changes by the end. Crucially, that change has to come from the events within the video, driven by the character’s choices/actions.
VIDEO 19 I Tested Minecraft Mobs To See Who's The Dumbest
What to repeat:
(1/3) hook
- 87% at 30s is no joke! So study this hook and notice how succinct and clear it is about the video’s concept.
- It gives the necessary information in 3 sentences, then gets into the ‘meat’ after only 10s.
- Still, there is bit of a dropoff until 3 mins, but I’ll talk about why soon.
(2/3) introduces new stakes
- Additional stakes are added constantly.
- Once we think we know exactly what the video’s gonna look like, the creator introduces a new form of peril (e.g. TNT falling from the sky) or gives the characters a chance to win a prize that gives them an advantage.
- So ask yourself - once my audience thinks they fully understand what’s gonna happen, how can I introduce another surprising element that adds tension and builds on the story?
(3/3) concept
- Inverts an already popular concept.
Where Mr Beast’s real-life Squid Game challenged players to beat the game…
- …this creator pits a group of dumb AIs against each other, rewarding those who do the worst.
What to improve:
(1/1) timing
- If this video had come out a year ago, it would have gotten 10x more attention.
- But the hype around Squid Game and Mr Beast’s video have died down.
- So why did people click away in the first 3 min? I suspect they recognised the Squid Game reference immediately and thought:
- “Meh, that’s kinda 2022. I’ve already seen this done on a ridiculous budget.”
- Shortcut for finding current trends: download VidIQ so you can curate lists of the most popular creators, then see which videos are getting the most views per hour NOW. Then it’s time to act fast.
Takeaway:
Improve your chances of making a video go viral by finding a popular trend and putting your own spin on it, (e.g. invert the concept).
But be wary of ‘missing the boat’ - YouTube trends move quickly, and if you’re a year late, it’s not a trend anymore.
VIDEO 20 SNEAKY MIX BUS TRICKS Pro Mixers Use To HOOK LISTENERS
What worked
(1/2) Hook
The hook is sick (though the music drowns out the voice a little).
The creator puts himself in the audience's shoes and precisely articulates the problems they're facing (they've tried mimicing tutorials to a build mix bus, yet always find the result they never had the same energy).
Mix this with the high energy performance, plenty of B-Roll, some humour, and I'm in.
But there's an even cooler (and more subtle) trick he uses to bring us into the "story" of the hook...
Now, you might expect this from a sound engineer, but listen to how the music is timed to exaggerate key moments in the intro (e.g. he sits back in disappointment at 0:14, and a subtle, base-y "boom" can be heard). Most creators underutilise techniques like this.
(2/2) Editing
A lot of personality comes across in the edit (see funny B-Roll example at 0:22 and silly cutaway style at 5:06).
It's full of highly intentional Ken Burns crops, zooms, SFX, incorporation of memes, etc.
Hayden Hillier-Smith often talks about showcasing your personality through editing, and this creator does it constantly.
What to improve
(1/2) Overexplaining
The dropoff during S3 can probably be explained by a little too much dry explanation.
I love that the creator is incorporating storytelling, but after the excellent use of B-Roll and cutaways up to this point, the pacing slows too much.
Always think: what is the next payoff my audience is expecting?
In this case, it takes 70 seconds to get from introducing the point to revealing the point. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but nothing really happens to re-engage the audience during that time - it starts with an amusing meme, but then transitions into a "and then, and then, and then" story about how this mastering trick was discovered.
(2/2) CTA
Last payoff happens at 5:58, but the video goes on for another 35s.
In this case, the CTA is too wordy and spends too long summarising the current video.
For a quick recap, here's how I write a CTA.
https://twitter.com/GeorgeBlackman_/status/1638869674665312256
In this case, the "link" (the bit that relates the CTA to the current video) goes on for too long:
("I bet your mind is blown by all the tricks you just learned that the pros use to make their [etc etc]")
It comes across like a summary, rather than a CTA. Your audience are 10x more likely to click away during these final moments, so you need to open a new curiosity gap right away.
Takeaway
Always think: what is the next payoff my audience is expecting? And is it clear that we're constantly building towards it?
VIDEO 21 Twitch is Worse Than You Can Imagine
What worked
(1/2) Curiosity Gaps
People like me who haven't used Twitch for a few years will be surprised to hear:
- It's now full of NSFW content.
- It's used to promote gambling.
- It somehow resulted in someone's death.
Craig deliberately contradicts viewer expectations right at the start.
(Worth noting that he also delivers on all these claims - it's not clickbait).
(2/2) Storytelling
This storytelling method in this video is called "in medias res" and it's fairly common on YouTube. Hook the audience with the most explosive points, then gradually join the dots to show how you got there.
After the arresting claims in the hook, we jump back to understand how Twitch started, and are shown the good things that came from it initially (community-building, people able to make a living, etc).
Then, gradually, we build towards the state of play we were shown at the start, with each issue (gambling, NSFW, fatality) first hinted at and then explained.
(Side note: music is used brilliantly to aid the storytelling too... see how the whole tone changes from 4:10 because of the music.)
What to improve
(1/1) Repetition
For the most part, the pacing is great.
But the dip during S3 coincides with a moment where a payoff is given too early, then B-Roll is used to simply repeat the point that was just made.
Specifically, Craig explains that a certain streamer was loaned $100,000, then B-Roll of the streamer revealing this info is played.
But given we already know the amount, we're not learning anything new. The B-Roll also drags a little, with the streamer stumbling over his words a bit. So for 25ish seconds, we're basically discussing a payoff that already happened.
Craig could have hinted at "a massive loan" the creator was given, then show the B-Roll (trimmed) which reveals the amount.
Takeaway
Classic storytelling techniques like 'in medias res' are just as effective on YouTube when done well. Reveal one of the most explosive points at the start, then gradually help the audience join the dots to see how we got there
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