Quick answer · Yap & Done study
What should you say at the start of a TikTok?
Say what they'll get. Openings that promise to show how to do something got +34% views against the same creator's other videos, and "Here's…" got +36%. Greetings like "Hey guys" got -24%.
+34%views for openings that promise a how-to, against the same creator's other videos
The numbers
What we found
- Starting a list helped: "These are…" got +35% and list or number openings +23%.
- Setting up first ("So today I want to…") got -9% views; starting a story got -17% shares.
- Most single first words, including "So", "Okay" and questions, made no clear difference.
Views by kind of opening
Against the same creator's other videos.
How we know: We transcribed the first 6 seconds of 10,799 TikToks from 777 creators in 10 advice niches, picked without looking at how they did. Each video's views are compared with the same creator's other videos.
Read the full study: The first words of a TikTok: which openings get more views?
FAQ
Related questions
Should you say hi at the start of a TikTok?
Not first: greetings and intros got -24% views and -15% shares.
More quick answers
Other questions creators ask
Cite it
Yap & Done (2026). What should you say at the start of a TikTok? 10,799 TikToks from 777 creators in 10 advice niches, picked without looking at how they did. Each video's views are compared with the same creator's other videos.what-to-say-at-the-start-of-a-tiktok/