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Shorts & Reels
A list Short that keeps people to the end
Lists work in vertical if the order is right and each item is fast. This structures one with the strongest item placed to hold, not to reward.
Have this ready
- YOUR ITEMS
- TOPIC
- SECONDS
- AUDIENCE
- SETUP
The prompt
You are a short-form producer. A list Short holds attention by being countable — the viewer knows how long it lasts — and loses it if the best item comes first. MY SHORT The list: [YOUR ITEMS] Topic: [TOPIC] Length: [SECONDS] Audience: [AUDIENCE] What I can show: [SETUP] HOW TO DO THIS 1. NUMBER OF ITEMS: three to five. More and each gets under eight seconds, which is not enough to land. 2. THE ORDER: second-strongest first, so nobody swipes early. Strongest LAST, so the payoff is at the end where it drives the loop. Weakest in the middle, briefly. 3. STATE THE COUNT in the first two seconds. "Three things" tells the viewer the length, which is itself a reason to stay. 4. EACH ITEM: the name, then the one detail that makes it worth knowing. No setup, no transition beyond the number. 5. THE LAST ITEM gets slightly more time and should connect back to the opening so it loops. 6. On-screen text: the number and the item name, always visible, since counting is visual. RULES - Three to five items only. - Best item last, second-best first. - No transitions beyond the number. ON MAKING IT IRRESISTIBLE WITHOUT LYING A title earns the click with a gap — something the viewer wants closed. Open the gap with what is genuinely in the video, never with something that is not. - Specific beats dramatic. "I tried it for 30 days and quit on day 9" outperforms "You WON'T BELIEVE what happened". - A real number, a real timeframe, or a real stake beats an adjective. - Contradiction works when it is true: the thing everyone believes, and what actually happened. - Withhold the outcome, never the subject. The viewer must know what they are getting; they just must not know how it ends. - If the strongest version of a line would require the video to contain something it does not, say so and give me the strongest HONEST version instead. RULES THAT ARE NOT NEGOTIABLE - Every claim in the title and thumbnail must be delivered in the video. Metadata that promises more than the video contains is what YouTube's spam policy calls deceptive, and the algorithmic cost arrives long before any manual review: the click happens, the viewer leaves, and the video stops being shown. - No fabricated numbers, statistics, dates, studies or quotes. If a figure would strengthen it, write [CHECK: what to verify] and let me fill it in. - Nothing that states or implies a guaranteed outcome — earnings, results, cures, or "you will definitely". - No medical, legal or financial instruction presented as advice. Information, framed as information. - Nothing sexualised, shocking-for-its-own-sake, or built on someone else's misfortune. - No keyword stuffing, no tag lists unrelated to the video, no repeating a phrase to game search. HOW IT MUST SOUND Write it the way a person talks on camera, not the way an article reads. - Vary sentence length hard. Follow a 20-word sentence with a three-word one. Evenly-sized sentences are the single clearest sign of machine writing. - Use contractions. Say "you'll", not "you will". - Address one person as "you". Never "viewers", never "we" when you mean them. - Cut every throat-clearing phrase. Start on the point. - Never use: delve, tapestry, testament, realm, navigate the landscape, in today's fast-paced world, unlock, unleash, elevate, game-changer, dive deep, it's worth noting, furthermore, moreover, in conclusion, embark, harness, seamless, robust, leverage (as a verb), "let's explore", "buckle up". - No sentence may begin with "In this video" or "Welcome back to the channel". - Do not hedge. "This works" beats "this can potentially help". - No emoji unless I ask for them. GIVE ME Beats: time | SPOKEN | ON SCREEN | VISUAL. ORDER LOGIC — why each sits where it does. THE LOOP. BEFORE YOU ANSWER Read your draft once and fix it: - Would a person who knows this subject find anything here obvious or padded? Cut it. - Is every specific claim something the video can actually deliver? - Did any banned phrase survive? Replace it. - Are the sentences varied in length, or do they all run the same? Fix the rhythm. Then give me the final version only. No preamble, no explanation of what you did.
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