---
title: "Templates for hooks, captions and short-form scripts"
description: "Why templates Once you find a prompt that works, turn it into a template with [placeholders]. Templates make quality repeatable, save time and let…"
url: https://optimizeall.com/learn/prompt-engineering-for-content-and-sales/templates-for-content
updated: 2026-10-05
---

Prompt Engineering for Content & Sales · Content templates and long-form chains · lesson 6 of 15 · 12 min

# Templates for hooks, captions and short-form scripts

## Why templates

Once you find a prompt that works, turn it into a **template** with [placeholders]. Templates make quality repeatable, save time and let teammates or freelancers produce consistent work. Paste your brand voice guide (Module 5) or use your context pack (Module 2) with any template for best results.

## Template 1: Hook generator

> You are a short-form video strategist for [niche] creators.
> Audience: [who, age, location, main desire, main frustration].
> Video topic: [topic]. Key point of the video: [one sentence].
> Write 15 opening hooks (first 1–2 seconds, spoken, under 12 words each).
> Use a mix of these angles: curiosity gap, bold contrarian statement, relatable pain, specific result, question, "mistake" framing.
> Avoid clickbait that the video does not deliver on. No false claims.
> Format: numbered list, with the angle in brackets after each.

**Why it works:** audience plus a single key point keeps hooks relevant; named angles force variety; the honesty rule prevents misleading hooks that hurt retention and trust.

## Template 2: Caption writer

> Write [number] [platform] captions for this post: [describe the visual/video].
> Goal: [saves / comments / DMs / link clicks / sales].
> Voice: [3 adjectives + 1 example caption].
> Structure: hook line that works alone before the "more" cut-off; [1–3] short body lines with one specific detail; CTA aligned to the goal.
> Constraints: under [X] words; [language/variety]; banned words: [list]; [#ad / paid partnership label if sponsored].
> Format: numbered, with a one-line note on why each should achieve the goal.

## Template 3: Short-form video script

> Write a [length]-second [platform] script about [topic] for [audience].
> Structure:
> 0–3s: hook (spoken + on-screen text)
> 3–[X]s: [2–3] beats delivering the key point with one example
> Final 5s: CTA ([follow / comment keyword / link in bio])
> Constraints: voiceover under [word count] words (about 2.5 words per second is a comfortable pace); simple spoken language; one pattern interrupt midway.
> Format: table with columns Time | Visual | Voiceover | On-screen text.

## Template 4: Content repurposer

> Here is [a transcript / blog / podcast summary]: [paste].
> Extract the [3–5] most useful, specific ideas, using the speaker's own phrasing where possible.
> For each, create: one [platform] post, one carousel outline (6–8 slides), one short-video hook.
> Do not add facts or advice that are not in the source. Mark anything that needs a visual with [VISUAL].

## Template 5: Content calendar

> Create a [2/4]-week content calendar for [brand] on [platforms].
> Content pillars: [3–5 pillars with a short description].
> Key dates: [launches, holidays such as Ramadan, Eid, Diwali, Black Friday or back to school].
> Posting frequency: [per platform].
> Format: table with columns Date, Platform, Pillar, Format, Hook, CTA.
> Balance pillars and do not schedule promotional posts back to back.

## Worked example: filling in the hook template

A Lahore-based personal finance creator fills in Template 1: audience "salaried professionals 24–35 in Pakistan who feel they never save", topic "the 50/30/20 budget adapted for high inflation", key point "percentages matter less than automating savings on payday".

Selected outputs:

- (Contrarian) "The 50/30/20 rule doesn't work in Pakistan. Here's what does."
- (Relatable pain) "Salary comes on the 1st, gone by the 20th?"
- (Mistake) "You're saving what's left. That's the mistake."

She picks the contrarian hook, checks that the video actually explains the adapted method, and films it. Note what the template prevented: hooks promising "guaranteed returns", which would be misleading and potentially a regulatory problem for financial content.

## Hands-on: turn a template into a saved tool

A template is most useful when it's one click away. Pick the template you'll use most and save it as:

- a **custom GPT** or a **Gemini Gem** (instructions = the template with a note to ask for the placeholders), or
- a **saved prompt / project instruction** in Claude or ChatGPT, or
- a **Notion page** with the template that Notion AI can run on selected text.

```text
Instructions for a "Hook Generator" GPT/Gem
You generate short-form video hooks for [brand/niche].
First ask me for: the audience, the video topic and the one key point.
Then write 15 hooks under 12 words each across these angles: curiosity, contrarian, pain, result, question, mistake.
Never promise what the video doesn't deliver; no guaranteed results, no fake scarcity.
Return a numbered list with the angle in brackets, then recommend the 3 strongest for a skeptical viewer and why.
```

**Before:** everyone on the team writes hooks differently, and quality depends on who's on shift.

**After:** a shared Hook Generator that asks for the three inputs, enforces honesty rules and returns tagged options, so a new freelancer produces on-brand hooks on day one.

## Template quality check

Before you share a template, test it on three different topics and check: Are placeholders obvious? Does it block the risky outputs (claims, fake urgency)? Does the format fit where the output goes? Does it still work when someone else fills it in?

## Adapting templates

- **Swap angles** for your niche. B2B might use "cost of inaction" or "peer benchmark".
- **Add platform specifics** such as character limits, hashtag norms and whether captions are read at all.
- **Localize:** specify language variety and cultural references explicitly.

## Video lecture: Templates for hooks, captions and short-form scripts

Lecture coming soon · 11 chapters · about 8 minutes. Read the full transcript below.

1. Templates for content
2. Why templates
3. The recipe card analogy
4. Hooks and captions
5. Scripts, repurposing, calendars
6. Example 1: the finance creator
7. Example 2: the agency's shared Hook Generator
8. Watch me do it
9. Adapting templates
10. Common mistakes
11. Recap and try this now

## Lecture transcript

### Templates for content

If you write content every week, you're probably solving the same prompt problems again and again. What was that prompt that worked so well last month? Why does the freelancer's content sound different from yours? Templates fix both. A template is a prompt that worked, with placeholders for the parts that change, so quality becomes repeatable. In this lecture you'll get five content templates, hooks, captions, short video scripts, repurposing and content calendars, learn why each part is there, see a finance creator fill one in, and watch me turn a template into a shared tool your whole team can use.

### Why templates

Why templates? Three reasons. Repeatable quality: when a prompt works, a template makes it work every time, for everyone. Faster onboarding: a new team member or freelancer can produce on brand content on day one, because the template carries the expertise. And guardrails built in: rules like never promise what the video doesn't deliver, or no invented claims, live inside the template, so nobody has to remember them under deadline pressure. Here's the key idea. A template turns your best prompt into a system.

### The recipe card analogy

Think of a template like a recipe card. The method is fixed: the structure and the rules that make it work. The ingredients are swappable: the audience, the topic, the key point, the platform. And there are chef's notes in the margin: the warnings you learned the hard way. Don't overbake. Don't promise guaranteed results. In a prompt template, placeholders in square brackets are the ingredients, and the constraints are the chef's notes. Anyone can follow the card and get a good result, even if they've never made the dish before.

### Hooks and captions

Let's look at two templates. The hook generator. You're a short form video strategist for this niche. Audience: who they are, their main desire and frustration. Topic, and the one key point of the video. Write fifteen opening hooks, under twelve words, across named angles: curiosity, contrarian, pain, result, question and mistake. Avoid clickbait the video doesn't deliver. Why it works: the audience and one key point keep hooks relevant, named angles force variety, and the honesty rule protects retention and trust. The caption writer adds a goal, like saves, comments or DMs, a voice with one example, and a structure: a hook that works before the more cut off, one specific detail, and a call to action matched to the goal.

### Scripts, repurposing, calendars

Three more. The short video script: length, platform, audience, and a structure. Zero to three seconds, the hook. Then two or three beats with one example. The final five seconds, the call to action. Keep the voiceover under a word count; about two and a half words per second is a comfortable pace, so a forty second video is roughly one hundred words. Format as a table: time, visual, voiceover, on screen text. The repurposer: extract the most useful ideas from a transcript in the speaker's words and create posts from them, adding nothing that isn't in the source. And the content calendar: pillars, key dates like Ramadan, Eid, Diwali, Black Friday or back to school, and a rule not to schedule promotional posts back to back.

### Example 1: the finance creator

A simple example. A personal finance creator in Lahore fills in the hook template. Audience: salaried professionals aged twenty four to thirty five in Pakistan who feel they never save. Topic: the fifty thirty twenty budget adapted for high inflation. Key point: percentages matter less than automating savings on payday. The outputs include: the fifty thirty twenty rule doesn't work in Pakistan, here's what does. Salary comes on the first, gone by the twentieth? And: you're saving what's left, that's the mistake. She picks the contrarian hook and checks the video delivers on it. Notice what the template prevented: hooks promising guaranteed returns, which would be misleading, and a real problem for financial content.

### Example 2: the agency's shared Hook Generator

Now a team scenario, with illustrative details. A content agency in Manchester works with six freelance video editors who also write hooks. Quality varied wildly depending on who was on shift. The agency turns its hook template into a shared custom GPT called Hook Generator. It asks for three inputs, audience, topic and key point, enforces the honesty rules, returns fifteen tagged hooks, and recommends the three strongest for a skeptical viewer. Within a month, the agency's creative director notices she's rewriting far fewer hooks, and a new freelancer's first week of work needs almost no correction. The expertise moved from one person's head into a tool everyone uses.

### Watch me do it

Let me turn a template into a tool. I open the builder for a custom assistant. This works as a custom GPT in ChatGPT or a Gem in Gemini, and in Claude I'd use a project with these instructions. I paste the instructions from the lesson text: you generate short form video hooks for this niche, first ask me for the audience, the topic and the key point, then write fifteen hooks across six angles, never promise what the video doesn't deliver, and recommend the three strongest. I name it Hook Generator. Now I test it on three different topics: a bakery, a gym and a software tool. Each time, it asks for the three inputs, returns tagged hooks, and recommends three. One test reveals it's using too many questions as hooks, so I add a rule: no more than three question hooks. Tested, tweaked, ready to share.

### Adapting templates

Templates should flex. Swap the angles for your niche: B2B might use cost of inaction or peer benchmark instead of relatable pain. Add platform specifics, like character limits, hashtag norms and whether captions are read at all on that platform. And localize explicitly: specify the language variety, like American English, Gulf Arabic or Roman Urdu, and the cultural references that fit. Before you share any template, test it on three different topics, check the placeholders are obvious, confirm it blocks risky outputs, and make sure it still works when someone else fills it in.

### Common mistakes

Three mistakes. Templates without guardrails, which spread risky patterns faster than one person ever could. Placeholders nobody understands, like X two or input here. Write them as instructions: audience, age and location, main frustration. And templates that are never updated. When you notice the same edit on every output, fold it back into the template. A template library is a living thing. We'll build a proper, shared one in the final module.

### Recap and try this now

Let's recap. Templates turn prompts that work into repeatable systems. You now have five: hooks, captions, short video scripts, a repurposer and a content calendar, each with an audience, a single point, constraints and a format, and each with honesty rules built in. Adapt them for your niche, platform and market, and test before sharing. Here's your try this now. Pick the template you'll use most, save it as a custom GPT, Gem or project instruction, test it on three topics, and share it with one colleague or freelancer. Ask them what was unclear, and fix it.

## Key takeaways

- Turn prompts that work into templates with clear [placeholders] so quality is repeatable.
- Hook, caption, script, repurposer and calendar templates each build in audience, a single point, constraints and a format.
- Build honesty rules into templates: no clickbait the content doesn't deliver, no invented claims.
- Save your most-used templates as a custom GPT, Gem or project instruction so the team uses them consistently.

## Try it

Fill in two of the templates for your own niche, generate outputs, and save the best-performing version to your prompt library.

- [Previous: Context packs: projects, files and memory for content and sales](https://optimizeall.com/learn/prompt-engineering-for-content-and-sales/context-packs-projects-and-files)
- [Next: Long-form content with prompt chains: articles, newsletters, case studies and landing pages](https://optimizeall.com/learn/prompt-engineering-for-content-and-sales/long-form-content-prompt-chains)
- [All lessons of Prompt Engineering for Content & Sales](https://optimizeall.com/learn/prompt-engineering-for-content-and-sales)