Forget the Hook, Show Me the Human
Forget viral hooks, focus on the human. True impact comes from storytelling that connects, inspires action, and builds lasting empathy.
Two male mountain leaders, sat on a fallen tree trunk in a vast salt marsh, in deep conversation.
Spend more than five minutes on LinkedIn, Instagram, or TikTok and you’ll be hit with the same promise on repeat: “Download my top 10 viral hooks to make your content perform.”
But what do we actually mean by “perform”? Most of the time, it means views, but when we think about performance, we mean something different: did the story achieve what you set out to do?
That’s why we don’t talk about “the hook.”
We talk about the human.
Why views aren’t the be-all and end-all.
Views might feel good in the moment, but they’re not the measure of real impact. A million people scrolling past your video doesn’t mean your message landed, it just means it flashed briefly on their screen. What matters is whether the right person stayed, connected, and carried that story with them.
A “view” doesn’t mean someone truly engaged, it just means they lingered for three seconds before scrolling on. And three seconds of attention just really isn’t the same as connection. That’s not to say the first few seconds of your content don’t matter, they definitely do, but they should matter most to who you are talking to. Forget the number of people who paused, focus on the depth of the impact on the right person.
For purpose-led organisations, the goal isn’t to boast about big viewing figures, it’s to create moments that resonate. That means the difference between someone who watches your video because it’s entertaining then forgets about it and someone who feels connected, aligned, empowered or moved and takes the action you hope they will. That’s impact and it can’t be measured in seconds watched.
Hook, Line, and Sinker: How Rage-Bait Reels You In
Rage-bait is content designed to provoke anger or outrage so that you can’t help but click, comment, or share it. It hijacks our natural psychological responses, using strong emotions to keep us engaged long after we should have scrolled past. Marketers know this, and many deliberately exploit the same psychological levers that cult leaders do; manufacturing a sense of urgency, fear, or threat, then positioning themselves as the one with the answer.
The tactic works because anger is activating; it makes us feel like we have to watch, we have to react. That’s why the word hook is used: like bait on a fishing line, it’s designed to catch you, reel you in (note the word reel), and hold you there not because it’s valuable, but because your attention is profitable.
People Don’t Want to Be Captured, They Want to Be Understood.
The best first line isn’t rage-bait (at least it doesn’t have to be). You do not need to scream for attention or try to capture everyone. Instead, it should connect with the person you actually want it to, and make them think just one very simple thing. “ This is for me.”
The internet is loud. If you’re an NGO, charity, or purpose-led organisation, your mission risks being drowned out unless you give people a reason to care and it’s stories that move people. A recent survey found that 68% of people say stories help them better understand and connect with a cause. Think about that: almost 7 in 10 people are asking you for a human moment that helps them care.
So stop asking, “What hook will grab attention?” and start asking, “How can we show the human in this?”
Stories Don’t Shout, They Stay.
Stories are the core of human experience, the threads that weave understanding and empathy. They can be found in the personal journeys of individuals impacted by your work, the challenges and triumphs of your team, or the broader narrative of the cause you champion. These stories are the antidote to noise; they cut through the superficial and tap into something deeper.
That’s what stories do, they ripple outward. They plant something in people that lasts longer than a scroll, a like, or even a donation.
So when people tell us to focus on hooks, we politely decline because we don’t want to trick anyone into paying attention.
We want them to feel something real.
Change Starts with Humans.
If your mission is to change the world, remember this: change doesn’t begin with a hook, it begins with a human. That’s what makes someone stop scrolling, builds trust, inspires action.
So forget the hook. Show me the human.
