The formulas
- The list: "5 things nobody tells you about [topic]", "7 apps I use every single day", "3 mistakes I made at 22".
- The secret: "What [experts] do not want you to know", "The [topic] trick that changed everything".
- The mistake: "Stop doing this if you want [result]", "You are [doing X] wrong".
- Before and after: "How I went from [bad] to [good] in [time]".
- The hot take: "Unpopular opinion: [strong claim]".
- The shortcut: "[Result] without [pain]", "The lazy way to [goal]".
- The identity: "If you are a [type of person], read this".
- The number: "I saved $[amount] doing this", "[Number] days of [habit]: here is what happened".
What makes a hook work
- It is specific. Numbers and names beat vague promises.
- It is short. Six to ten words, readable in one glance.
- It opens a loop the viewer can only close by swiping.
- It is in the TikTok font, so it looks like content, not an ad.
Let your AI write them, from your own data
Connect Slidemate to Claude, ChatGPT, Grok or Cursor and, on Pro, your AI can read your past TikToks, see which hooks got views and which flopped, and write new ones in the style that already works for your account. It never repeats a hook you already posted.
Updated October 1, 2026