I'm telling my clients to use this retention "trick"

This week, I discovered a simple retention "trick" you can write into your next script regardless of your niche.

Even cooler, this "trick" will:

• Make your viewers watch longer.
• Increase your video's runtime (good for audience watch time + ad revenue).
• Increase your authority and highlight your personality.

Ready? Let's goooo...

The Problem:

I talk a lot about setup + tension + payoff.

Think of your scripts as a series of "segments" (e.g. topics), where each segment is broken into those three parts:

But the question I get asked constantly is:

"How do I delay the payoff without my audience getting annoyed?"

In other words, what does "tension" actually look like in a script?

Well, the retention "trick" I noticed this week helps explain this.

Example:

Let's imagine we're writing a script about making amazing pour-over coffee.

Segment 1 might be about the gear you'll need to achieve this.

So let's think about setup + tension + payoff for this segment...

• Setup: "First, let's cover the exact coffee-making gear you'll need to make a delicious pourover coffee..."
• Tension: ???
• Payoff: [Reveal the exact gear required.]

For a segment like this, it feels quite hard to delay the payoff, right?

We start by saying they'll need specific gear. We finish by telling them what that gear is.

So... what else is there to say in between?

The retention "trick":

Over the last 2 weeks, I've reviewed a bunch of retention graphs for clients, students and even a friend from Twitter.

They're all in different niches, but I noticed retenton was flat whenever any of them used this "trick".

In a nutshell:

✅ Spend more time showing your expertise, even if it means delaying the payoff for an uncomfortable length of time.

That means, if you have particular insider knowledge about a specific topic, you must learn to be comfortable spending more time talking about it.

With our coffee video, here's the difference:

• ❌ "I don't recommend [gear X] or [gear Y]. Instead, you should buy [gear A] and [gear B].
  • This way is more "efficient" and with a faster payoff. But it's not memorable, and the viewer won't gain a deeper understanding.
• ✅ "Most baristas would recommend [gear X] and [gear Y], but here's exactly what happened when we tested this across more than 100 cups of coffee..."

The second way delays the payoff, but allows the viewer to deepen their knowledge, get excited about the payoff, and see you as more of an expert.

"Flexing your expertise" through storytelling.

It's not just about saying, "this really popular coffee grinder is actually bad!!!"

It's about deliberately spending more time "behind the scenes", flexing your expertise, and drilling down into why you hold your opinion.

What this looks like in other niches:

Giving interview advice:

• ❌ "When an interviewer asks you to 'describe yourself', don't say [X], say [Y]!
• ✅ "If you say [X] to an interviewer, let me tell you exactly what the recruitment team will say about you after you leave..."

Reviewing iPhone apps:

• ❌ "We don't recommend [app A], but we do recommend [app B]."
• ✅ "Most people would recommend [app A], but here's exactly what happened when we tested it in [specific scenario]."

Solving a math problem:

• ❌ "Most students try to solve it like [this], but it's easier to solve it like [that]."
• ✅ When you try to solve it like [this], not only will it not work, but you're actually building a habit that's going to make it harder to solve other equations too. Let me explain..."

Don't be afraid to linger on your expertise.

It might feel uncomfortable, but it's highly likely your viewers will actually appreciate it... meaning more watch time + increased authority.

(Not to mention longer videos, and therefore increased potential for ad revenue.)

IN OTHER NEWS:

I met the CEO of Kit yesterday!

After 2+ years sending emails through Kit, I saw their CEO, Nathan Barry, was doing a casual meetup in London...

Such a pleasure to meet both Nathan and Creator Partnerships Manager, Haley!

In the last year, I've attended VidSummit and Sponsor Games, and I'm 100% sold on the power of in-person meetups.

Take the opportunity when you can!

That's all for this week.

Any questions? You can to reply to this email and I'll get back to you.

Speak soon,
George 👋