# Reaction

Story / Hook / Textual hooks (what to say). Checked 2026-10-13.

A real reaction on screen makes the viewer feel it too.

- Use when: Reviews, reveals, results.
- Phrase: open on the face reacting to the result, then cut to what they are looking at
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/hook/reaction-hook
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/hook/reaction-hook.json

## Watch out

- The reaction has to be physical and timed; a generated smile kills it. (measured; Director Chair field notes on video prompting)
- Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula. (practitioner; The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report))

## Prompts

### Any chat model

```
Write five opening lines for a short video about [your product], for [your audience]. Use the reaction pattern: a real reaction on screen makes the viewer feel it too. The reaction has to be physical and timed; a generated smile kills it. Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Example: open on the face reacting to the result, then cut to what they are looking at. Plain spoken language, no hashtags, no emoji. Tell me which one you would post first and why, in one line.
```

## Goes well with

- Shock: https://directorchair.ai/expression/shock
- Laughter: https://directorchair.ai/expression/laughter

## Source

Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.