Act as a thumbnail strategist. My video: [topic and the emotional payoff]. My title draft: [title]. My niche and its thumbnail conventions: [niche].
Lab the thumbnail text:
1. The title-thumbnail split: rule one is they never repeat each other. Show me what the title carries (context, searchability) vs what the thumbnail carries (emotion, curiosity).
2. 10 thumbnail text options, max 4 words each: 3 curiosity, 3 outcome, 2 contrarian, 2 'forbidden fruit'. Each with the facial-expression or visual pairing that completes it.
3. The mobile test: which options survive at 120px wide — cut any that do not.
4. The honesty audit: flag any option that overpromises what my video delivers. Clickbait debt is paid in watch time and trust.
5. Final pick + backup for an A/B swap, with the one-line reasoning a viewer's lizard brain would give for clicking.
#youtube#thumbnails
💡 Replace the [brackets] with your details — the more specific, the sharper the answer.
The first 30 seconds engineered so nobody clicks away.
Act as a YouTube scriptwriter whose videos hold 50%+ retention. My video topic: [topic]. Video length target: [minutes]. My channel's style: [describe or paste a past intro]. My audience: [who they are, what they clicked hoping to get].
Write my hook:
1. The cold open: 3 versions, each 15-30 seconds spoken. Version A opens with the end result shown first. Version B opens mid-story at the tension peak. Version C opens with the bold claim the video will prove.
2. For each: the exact spoken words, the visual on screen, and the 'open loop' it plants — the question the viewer now needs answered.
3. The title-thumbnail promise check: the hook must pay off the click, not extend the mystery past patience. Check each version against my likely title [share it if you have one].
4. The 3 hook-killers to avoid in my style: long branding intros, 'hey guys welcome back', and throat-clearing context — with my specific temptation named.
5. The transition line from hook into content, so retention does not cliff at second 35.
Interview questions that get stories, not talking points.
Act as a podcast host known for guests saying 'nobody has ever asked me that'. My guest: [who they are, what they are known for]. My listeners: [who they are, what they hope to take away]. Every interview this guest has already done: [paste links or summarize their standard talking points if known].
Build my bank:
1. The worn path: the 5 questions this guest is always asked, so I can skip or subvert them.
2. 15 original questions across 5 depths: origin story (before the known story starts), craft (the how nobody asks about), failure (specific, not 'tell me about a challenge'), opinion (where they disagree with their own field), and the personal (cost of the journey).
3. For each question: the follow-up that digs one level deeper if they give a polished answer — 'what did that actually look like on the worst day?'
4. The 3 questions to cut if time runs short, keeping the arc.
5. The closer: one unexpected final question that tends to produce the clip everyone shares.
Fifteen short-video ideas tailored to your niche this week.
Act as a short-form content strategist. My niche: [niche]. My account: [size, style, what has worked]. Time I can spend per video: [production budget honestly]. Trending formats I have noticed: [describe any, or 'show me the evergreen ones'].
Spin the wheel — 15 reel ideas:
- 5 teaching reels: one concept each, hook in the first second, payoff by second 20. Each as: on-screen hook text, the 3-beat structure, the CTA.
- 3 story reels: personal or niche-relevant narratives with a turn.
- 3 format reels: listicle-speedruns, POV setups, or before/afters suited to my niche.
- 2 reaction/commentary reels: on news, myths, or common mistakes in my field.
- 2 wildcards: weird but on-brand, the kind that occasionally outruns everything.
For all 15: the first-frame text that stops the scroll. Rank your top 3 for MY account size and explain why — big-account formats often fail small accounts.
End with the batching plan: how to film 5 of these in one 90-minute session.