Pain-point hook: name the exact moment, not the general problem
Template for the hook that opens on the viewer's own bad moment, with the specificity test (a place, a time, an object) that turns 'struggling with X' into a line the right viewer cannot scroll past.
Write 5 pain-point hooks for a short video about {topic} aimed at {audience}. The pain-point hook works when the viewer thinks 'that is me, last Tuesday'; it fails when the pain is generic. Each hook must contain at least two of: a place, a time of day, a physical object, a number. Templates to fill: - 'It is {time}, you have {number} {things}, and {the thing that goes wrong}.' - 'You {did the work}. Then {the specific loss}.' - 'The {object} is {state}, again.' - '{Number} {units} of {thing}, and you cannot find {the one you need}.' - 'You know the moment when {specific moment}?' Rules: max 14 words, second person, present tense, no 'struggling', 'frustrated', 'overwhelmed', 'tired of'. The pain is shown as a scene, not labelled as a feeling. For each hook, say which shot opens on it (the object or the screen, never a face reacting). Return: 5 hooks with their opening shot, ranked by how specific the scene is.
In Claude Code, paste the prompt as a message.
Example
Topic: a notes app that turns whiteboard photos into text. Audience: students.
- ‘It is 11 pm, you have fourteen whiteboard photos, and none of them are searchable.’ Shot: the camera roll, a grid of whiteboards.
- ‘You photographed every lecture. Then the exam asked about week six.’ Shot: thumb scrolling fast through the grid.
- ‘Half the board is glare, again.’ Shot: one photo, a white stripe across the equations.
- ‘Forty photos of handwriting, and the one proof you need is in none of them.’ Shot: zooming into blurry chalk.
- ‘You know the moment when the lecturer wipes the board before you got the photo?’ Shot: a hand with an eraser, mid-wipe.
Tips
- Open on the object, not on your face. The viewer recognises their own camera roll faster than they recognise your expression.
- If the line would work for any product in the category, it is not specific enough. Add the number or the time of day.
| works with | Claude: Paste into claude.ai or the Claude app. · ChatGPT: Paste into ChatGPT; works with any GPT model. · Claude Code: Runs as a skill or a prompt in the terminal; can read your files and write the result. · Any LLM: Model-agnostic: Gemini, Mistral, a local model. |
| cost | Free. No API, no key. |
| status | Unverified: written from the technique, not yet run end to end by us. |
| license | CC BY 4.0 for the text here; skills are MIT. |
| updated | 2026-11-01 |
| for agents | hook-archetype-pain-point.md |
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