9 Simple Hooks To Make People Feel

In partnership with

friend!

A while back, I hit a wall.

And I don’t mean the “ugh I’m tired” kind of wall.

I mean the “maybe I’m done with this whole storytelling thing” kind of wall.

Yeah.

The same skill that built my career, gave me freedom, helped clients go viral
suddenly felt like a bad rerun.

Every post sounded like déjà vu.
Every email felt like it had been written by a bored version of myself.

I wasn’t burned out from the work.
I was burned out from faking connection.

So one morning, I opened a dusty Google Doc called “Story Drafts.”
37 unfinished stories.

37 times I’d started strong…
then lost steam halfway through.

That’s when it hit me:
I wasn’t bad at storytelling.
I was just starting my stories in the wrong place.

You see, most people kill their story in the first ten seconds.

They start with context.
They start with logic.
They start with “Hey guys, today I want to talk about” (💀).

Meanwhile, the human brain only cares about one thing:
Feeling.

So I spent a month rebuilding my openings from scratch.
And what came out of it was something wild:

9 hooks that revived my storytelling voice
and made every word feel alive again.

Let’s break them down.

1. Start with a spoken line

One of my old newsroom editors once looked at me and said,

And he was right.

That line haunted me for weeks.
Then fueled me for years.

See, when you start with dialogue, you pull people straight into the scene.
They’re not reading a post anymore, they’re eavesdropping.

And everyone loves eavesdropping.

2. Lead with one emotional word

That’s the word that came to mind when a long-time client ghosted me after a big project.

I thought we had trust.
Turns out, I had an unpaid invoice.

Now here’s the thing: a single emotional word does more than a fancy headline ever will.

Because when you say “shattered,” your reader doesn’t just read it, they feel it in their chest.

That’s connection.

3. Ask a “What would you do if…” question

That actually happened to me once.
(Story for another day.)

But this type of question does something powerful, it forces your reader to step inside your shoes.

They’re no longer watching your story.
They’re living it.

That’s how you hook emotion before logic kicks in.

4. Start with movement or tension

That sentence wasn’t poetic.
It was pure emotion.

But here’s the thing
when your story moves, so does your reader.

Open with something happening, not something explained.
Because motion creates energy, and energy keeps attention.

5. Contrast serious with casual

Now… I’m not saying this is good life advice 😅
But it works in story.

Why?

Because contrast creates comedy and honesty at once.
You make people laugh and nod at the same time.

That mix of tension and humor?
That’s catnip for attention spans.

Is Your PPC Strategy Leaving Money on the Table?

Digital marketing has changed. Is your strategy keeping up?

With Levanta’s Affiliate Ad Shift Calculator, you can learn how creator-driven affiliate programs stack up against traditional performance models, and how a small shift in budget can have major impact.

Input your monthly ad spend and Amazon monthly revenue to uncover where you’re leaving money on the table. Find out how much revenue you could reclaim by leveraging smarter, creator-led affiliate partnerships.

The calculator helps you estimate:

• Potential revenue lift from creator-driven partnerships

• ROI impact based on commission and conversion data

• Efficiency gains compared to your current ad model

See how small changes could lead to massive increases in ROI, growth, and efficiency.

Run your numbers today to help future-proof your affiliate strategy in Q4 and beyond.

Get your free calculation

6. Reveal the twist

Yup. Been there.

This is one of my favorite hooks because it breaks expectation.
We’re wired for opposites.
Good news that feels bad? Bad news that teaches something good?

That’s human.

And the more human your stories feel, the less you have to “market” them.

7. Start with a raw truth

I wrote that line one night after trying (and failing) to sound positive online.

And funny enough…
it became one of my most opened emails of all time.

People can sense when you drop the act.
They might not comment.
But they feel it.

And that’s how you build real connection not with polish, but with truth.

8. Start at the end

Starting at the end creates intrigue.
It tells people: “Something happened. You’re just catching up.”

Readers love reverse engineering success or survival.
It makes them stick around to understand how.

Think of it as giving them dessert first.

9. Lead with a metaphor

People think in pictures.
So if you can make them see what you feel, you’ve got them.

A good metaphor doesn’t need explanation.
It gives emotion texture.
It makes invisible feelings visible.

And that’s the mark of a real storyteller.

Now look…

When I started using these hooks again, something shifted.

Writing became easy.
Not because I magically got “inspired.”
But because I stopped trying to sound like a teacher
and started sounding like a human.

The truth is, these 9 hooks don’t just grab attention.
They give you a way back into your story when you feel disconnected.

Because sometimes, the best writing advice isn’t about writing better
it’s about starting closer to the truth.

🧠 This Week’s Storytelling System

1. Pick one of the 9 hooks above.

2. Write one short story (100–300 words).

3. Focus only on your first line.

4. Forget perfect. Post it messy.

5. See what happens when you start with emotion instead of explanation.

You’ll be shocked how much lighter writing feels when you stop leading with logic.

Hit reply with your version.
I’ll feature a few next Monday so we can all learn from each other’s openings.

Because at the end of the day
great storytelling isn’t about talent.
It’s about being brave enough to start where it hurts.

–

From my desk in Jamaica,
Stephen

Let’s Connect on LinkedIn if you like it there 

Follow me on Threads/IG

Wanna work with me?

Got Stuff to say? Start your own Newsletter with Beehiiv