# Three-layer hook

Story / Hook / The rule. Checked 2026-10-13.

Catches the eye, the reader with the sound off and the listener in the same first second.

- Use when: The first one to three seconds of every short video.
- Phrase: in the first second: something moves toward the camera, a bold line of at most six words appears above the head before the first word is spoken, and one sound effect hits
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/hook/three-layer-hook
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/hook/three-layer-hook.json

## Watch out

- Text goes on screen before the speaker starts; a large share of feeds start muted. (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))
- 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 three-layer hook pattern: catches the eye, the reader with the sound off and the listener in the same first second. Text goes on screen before the speaker starts; a large share of feeds start muted. Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Example: in the first second: something moves toward the camera, a bold line of at most six words appears above the head before the first word is spoken, and one sound effect hits. Plain spoken language, no hashtags, no emoji. Tell me which one you would post first and why, in one line.
```

## Goes well with

- Pattern interrupt: https://directorchair.ai/hook/pattern-interrupt
- Text on screen first: https://directorchair.ai/hook/text-first-hook

## 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.