LinkedIn hook generator
Write the opening line of your post. Enter your topic and point to get up to 26 LinkedIn hooks across seven patterns, each previewed against the approximate “…see more” fold. Formula-based: instant, private and unlimited.
Only add a result you actually got. Leave it blank and no hook claims one.
Formula-based, not AI. Runs in your browser and uses only what you type. The fold preview assumes about 210 characters or 3 lines, whichever comes first; LinkedIn's real cut-off varies by device.
4 steps, no signup
- 01
Say what the post is about
Enter the topic, who it is for, and the one point you want readers to take away, written as a full sentence.
- 02
Add a number or result
Optional: a list count, or a real result you got. Leave them blank and no hook will contain a number.
- 03
Choose the post type
Story, lesson, contrarian, how-to, list or announcement. Matching hook patterns move to the top.
- 04
Check the fold and copy
Each hook shows roughly what appears before "…see more". Copy the one that works, then write the post to deliver on it.
What this LinkedIn hook generator does
On LinkedIn, the first lines of a post do most of the work. The feed shows a short preview and then cuts the post off with "…see more", so whether anyone reads the rest depends on what fits above that fold. This LinkedIn hook generator writes those opening lines for you from four things you already know: your topic, your audience, the point of the post, and (if you have one) a number or result.
It doesn't use AI. It runs a library of hook formulas over your inputs in your browser, so it's instant, unlimited and private, and it can't invent a result you didn't get. With a topic, audience and point filled in you get 20 or more hooks across seven patterns (about 15 from a topic alone), plus announcement hooks for launch posts, with the ones that suit your post type at the top. Each comes with a preview of what readers see before "…see more".
Where LinkedIn cuts off your post
LinkedIn doesn't publish an exact preview length, and it varies between the app, desktop and screen sizes. Practitioners commonly describe it as about two to three lines, often quoted as roughly 210 characters. Line breaks matter as much as characters: a hook followed by a blank line uses two of your visible lines. The preview here cuts at about 210 characters or three lines, whichever comes first, and is labelled approximate for that reason. Before you post, paste the draft into LinkedIn on your phone and look.
The seven hook patterns
| Pattern | Formula | Example (topic: cold email) |
|---|---|---|
| Contrarian | Most [audience] get [topic] backwards. [Point]. | Most early-stage founders get cold email backwards. |
| Numbered | [N] lessons about [topic] for [audience]: | 5 lessons about cold email for early-stage founders: |
| Story (in medias res) | Start at the moment of tension, then cut. | I almost gave up on cold email. Then I realised: shorter emails get more replies. |
| Question | Ask the question your point answers. | What if shorter emails get more replies? |
| Mistake | The mistake I see [audience] make most often with [topic]: | The mistake I see early-stage founders make most often with cold email: |
| Before / after | Before: [topic] felt like guesswork. After: [result]. | Before: cold email felt like guesswork. After: we doubled our reply rate in a month. |
| Curiosity gap | Point at the answer without hiding what it's about. | The change to cold email that made the biggest difference wasn't the one I expected. |
Curiosity without clickbait
A curiosity gap works because it leaves one question open. Clickbait works the same way, then fails to answer it. The difference shows up in the second line: if the reader expands your post and the payoff is weaker than the hook promised, the hook has cost you trust. The formulas here always point at your actual topic and point. None says "you won't believe" or hides what the post is about, and none adds a figure you didn't enter.
A useful test: could you deliver the hook's promise in the first three lines after "…see more"? If not, either strengthen the post or soften the hook.
Writing inputs that make better hooks
- Topic: a short noun phrase people recognise: "cold email", "first-time management", "pricing pages".
- Audience: plural and specific. "Early-stage founders" gives a hook someone to recognise themselves in; "people" doesn't.
- Point: one sentence you'd be happy to defend, like "Shorter emails get more replies". This is what the contrarian and question hooks are built from, so make it a claim, not a topic.
- Number: only for list or numbered posts, and only if the post really has that many items.
- Result: past tense, real, and as specific as you can honestly make it: "doubled our reply rate in a month".
Example: one post, five openings
Say the post is for early-stage founders, the topic is cold email, and the point is "Shorter emails get more replies". The same idea can open in very different ways:
- Contrarian: "Most early-stage founders get cold email backwards. Shorter emails get more replies."
- Question: "What if shorter emails get more replies?"
- Mistake: "The mistake I see early-stage founders make most often with cold email:"
- Story: "I almost gave up on cold email. Then I realised: shorter emails get more replies."
- Curiosity gap: "The most useful thing I've learned about cold email fits in one sentence."
Each sets up a different post. The contrarian opening promises an argument; the question promises an explanation; the story promises what happened. Choose the hook after you know which post you're writing, not before.
Matching hooks to post types
| Post type | Patterns that fit |
|---|---|
| Story | In medias res, before / after, mistake |
| Lesson | Curiosity gap, mistake, question |
| Contrarian | Contrarian, question |
| How-to | Numbered, before / after, question |
| List | Numbered, mistake |
| Announcement | Announcement hooks (only offered for this post type), curiosity gap, story |
The generator orders hooks this way, but all patterns stay available. Sometimes a story post opens best with a question.
After the hook
The line after the hook is the second most important line in the post: it has to start paying off the promise straight away. Keep paragraphs short, put one idea per line, and save the call to action for the end. If you want line breaks, bullet symbols or Unicode bold that survive pasting into LinkedIn, use the LinkedIn text formatter. To tidy your profile while you're at it, the LinkedIn headline generator works the same way.
No invented engagement numbers. You'll find plenty of claims online that a particular hook type "gets 3x more reach". We haven't found one traced to a published, reproducible dataset, so this page doesn't repeat any. Test patterns on your own audience and compare.
Last checked and updated: . Everything on this page runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.