30 LinkedIn hook examples, grouped by pattern

A hook is the first line or two of a post, the part that shows before the “see more” link. It has one job: to make a reader who is scrolling decide that the next few lines are worth their time. Everything below the fold only matters to the people who get past it.

That gives a hook two practical constraints. It has to fit above the fold, and it has to make sense on its own. The fold is not fixed, and LinkedIn does not publish it. Our preview uses about 140 characters or two lines on mobile and about 210 characters or three lines on desktop, which are estimates. A hook that finishes in roughly 40 to 140 characters is likely to be visible in full on a phone.

The thirty examples below are ones we wrote for this guide. They are templates, not quotations from real posts, and square brackets mark the parts to replace with your own details. We do not attach results or reach claims to any of them, because we have no data on how any pattern performs. Treat them as shapes to borrow, and judge each one by whether it is true and specific for your post.

Pick the pattern that fits what you actually have to say. If your post is about a mistake, use a pattern built for a mistake. If it has a concrete outcome, use one that leads with the outcome. A hook that promises something the post does not deliver costs trust.

Then rewrite the example in your own words. The bracketed placeholders mark where the specifics go, and the specifics are what make a hook work. Generic hooks are easy to spot, and the hook check in the LinkedIn post formatter marks several stock openers as weak, such as “excited to announce”, “thrilled to share” and “in today’s” followed by a topic.

Finally, paste the hook into the editor and look at the preview on Mobile. If the dashed line cuts the hook in half, shorten it.

A concrete detail gives the reader something to picture. In our hook check, a number at the start of the first line, or one with two or more digits, adds to the score because it adds specificity, and a number with a unit, such as years or people, adds a little more. Use a number only when it is real. If you do not have one, use a precise detail without a number.

• I rewrote the same [document] [number] times before it worked.
• It took me [number] years to learn this about [topic].
• We changed one line in our [email, page or process], and [what happened].
• [Number] things I check before I send any [type of message].
• The [number]-minute habit that changed how I [do something].

Where this pattern fails: a number that is round and unsupported, such as a made-up percentage. If a reader would ask where the figure comes from, the post should answer in its first paragraph.

A question speaks to the reader directly and sets up the post as its answer. The hook check gives points to a first line that ends with a question mark, on the reasoning that it invites a click. It only works if the question is one your reader would actually ask.

• Why does [common practice] still feel harder than it should?
• What would you do if [specific situation] landed on your desk tomorrow?
• When did [familiar task] stop being the part of the job you enjoyed?
• Is [popular advice] still right for [specific audience]?
• What is the one question you ask at the start of every [meeting, project or review]?

Where this pattern fails: yes-or-no questions with an obvious answer, and questions the post never answers. Keep the answer in the post, even if you save the detail for below the fold.

This pattern states a view that runs against common advice. Our hook check rewards words such as myth, wrong, overrated and unpopular in the first line, because a disagreement makes a reader curious. The trade-off is that you owe the reader a reason. A contrarian hook with no argument behind it reads as bait.

• [Popular advice] is not wrong, but it leaves out [what it misses].
• Unpopular opinion: [common tool or habit] is overrated for [situation].
• The myth that [belief] keeps people from [outcome].
• Most [people in your field] get [topic] the wrong way round.
• I used to defend [position]. I no longer do.

Where this pattern fails: when the claim is a caricature of what people actually think. Describe the common view fairly, then say where you differ.

A first line that admits a mistake or a doubt can build trust, and our hook check gives points to openers such as “I failed”, “I was wrong” and “I almost”. It works because it is specific and personal. It does not work as a formula: readers notice a staged confession.

• I got [specific decision] wrong, and it cost us [what it cost].
• I almost [quit, sent, signed or launched] [thing], and here is why I did not.
• I did not know how to [skill] when I started in [role].
• I struggled with [problem] for [time period] before I asked for help.
• The most useful feedback I ever got was the hardest to hear: [feedback].

Where this pattern fails: when the lesson is a boast in disguise. If the post is really about how well you did, open with that directly instead.

A pattern interrupt opens by stopping the scroll: a short, blunt statement that does not sound like a typical post. Our hook check recognises openers such as “stop”, “most”, “everyone”, “nobody”, “never”, “don’t” and “the problem”. Keep the line short, and make the next line deliver on it.

• Stop [doing common thing] in your [documents, calls or posts].
• Nobody tells you this about [situation].
• Never [common action] before you have [prerequisite].
• Everyone says [advice]. Almost nobody explains how.
• The problem with [process] is not [obvious cause].

Where this pattern fails: when overused. A feed full of commands is tiring, and an order issued to strangers can sound presumptuous. Use it where the instruction is genuinely useful.

This pattern starts with the end of the story and lets the post explain how you got there. It works well with a post template such as a case study, where the result is the point.

• [Outcome], and it started with a [small, specific action].
• We went from [starting point] to [end point] in [time period]. Here is what changed.
• The [document, reply or meeting] that [led to what].
• After [time period] of [effort], [what finally worked].
• What [event or project] taught me about [topic], in [number] lines.

Where this pattern fails: when the result is vague. “It changed everything” tells the reader nothing, while “we stopped answering the same question by email” does.

Once you have chosen and rewritten a hook, run through these checks in the formatter:

1. Length. The hook check treats 40 to 150 characters as a good length, 150 to 200 as a bit long, and more than 200 as too long. These are our heuristics, not LinkedIn rules, but they line up with the fold estimates above.
2. Fold. Switch the preview between Mobile and Desktop and see whether the dashed line cuts the hook.
3. Stock openers. If it starts “excited to announce” or similar, lead with the story or the result instead.
4. Shouting. A long first line in all capitals reads as shouting, and the check marks it down.
5. Emoji. More than two emoji in the hook is marked down.
6. Hashtags. A hook that starts with a hashtag wastes its space, so keep tags at the end of the post.

None of these checks measures how a post will perform. They catch common reasons a hook reads as weak, which is a smaller and more honest claim.

You can bold a hook with Unicode letters from the bold text generator, and it can help the eye find the first line. There are trade-offs. Styled letters are not matched by search, may be spelled out by screen readers, and probably weigh more in the character count. A bold first line also changes the width of the text, which can move the fold. If you do style a hook, keep it short, check the preview again afterwards, and leave names and keywords plain.

A hook that works only when bold is a weak hook. Write it so it reads well in plain letters first, then decide whether emphasis adds anything.

• Warming up. “I have been thinking a lot about” spends your best rows on nothing. Start at the point.
• Burying the subject. If the reader cannot tell what the post is about from the first line, they have to guess.
• Promising what the post does not give. A hook is a promise, and the rest of the post has to keep it.
• Cutting the hook mid-sentence. If the fold lands in the middle of your first sentence, shorten the sentence.
• Copying a pattern word for word. The examples here are shapes. If your hook could open a hundred other posts, add a detail only you have.
• Using an invented number. Placeholders such as [number] are there so you fill in a real one, or leave it out.