How to write a LinkedIn hook that stops the scroll

Your first line has one job. Buy the second line. That's all. It isn't a summary, it isn't a greeting, and it definitely isn't a warm-up.

Most people know this and still open with throat clearing, because the warm-up is how we get ourselves writing. Fine. Write it, then delete it before you post.

Cut these on sight

Anything that starts with "I wanted to share", "Let's talk about", "In today's world", or your own job title. Also cut any first line that could sit on top of anyone else's post about anything.

If your opener would work for a stranger in a different industry, it's not an opener, it's filler.

Six shapes that work

The flat statement of a real result: "I lost my biggest client on a Tuesday." No setup, just the fact, and the reader needs to know what happened.

The number that doesn't add up: "Eleven views. Four hours of writing." Numbers land because they're specific and specific feels true.

The thing you got wrong: "I gave the same advice for two years and it was wrong." People lean in for a correction because it promises something they haven't already heard.

The question they've asked themselves: "Why does everyone else's stuff get seen and yours doesn't?" It works when it's the exact question, in their words, not a tidied-up version.

The quiet disagreement: "Posting every day is bad advice for most people." Only use this when you genuinely believe it and can back it, because a hot take you can't defend costs you more than it earns.

The small scene: "A client called at 9pm on a Friday." A moment with a time and a place in it puts the reader somewhere, and being somewhere is more interesting than being told something.

Write the hook last

This one change fixes most hooks. Write the whole post first, then go looking for the sharpest sentence in it. It's almost never at the top. Move it to the top, cut whatever it left behind, and read it again.

Test it the lazy way

Read your first line on its own, out loud. If you wouldn't keep listening, they won't keep reading. Then look at a few hooks that recently did well for people ahead of you in your space, and notice their shape rather than their words. The shape is the transferable part.