What the reader actually sees
LinkedIn folds long posts and shows a “See more” link. The values observed by third parties are about 140 characters on mobile and 210 on desktop, with a maximum of 3 lines. LinkedIn does not publish these thresholds: they are estimates and may change. Keep the order of magnitude in mind: one or two short sentences.
Five principles for a hook that works
- Put the strong idea in the first sentence. Context can come after. If your best argument is on line four, nobody will see it.
- Skip the opening formulas. “Hello everyone” or “I'm thrilled to share” use up exactly the visible characters without teaching the reader anything.
- Keep it short. A sentence under 140 characters fits whole before the cut, on mobile and on desktop.
- Create curiosity, without bait. Announce a result, a figure, a mistake or a precise question, then keep the promise in the rest of the post.
- Do not cut in the wrong place. Check where “See more” lands: a cut in the middle of a key sentence weakens the effect.
Before / after examples
Before: “Hello everyone, today I wanted to share a few thoughts on how we reviewed our hiring process this year.”
After: “We cut our hiring time in half. Here is what we stopped doing.”
The second version states the result at once and gives a reason to keep reading. It fits in two short sentences.
Before: “A short lessons-learned note on my last project.”
After: “My last project failed because of a single meeting. Which one?”
Highlighting the hook
A bold word in the first line catches the eye, but that formatting relies on Unicode characters, not real bold: some screen readers read it poorly and search does not always find it. Keep it for one or two essential words. On LinkedIn a Unicode bold letter also counts as two characters, which reduces the room you have.
Checklist before you publish
- Does the first sentence hold the main idea or result?
- Does it avoid a greeting or a vague formula?
- Does it still read well if only the first 140 characters show?
- Is the promise kept in the rest of the post?
- Have you checked the “See more” cut on mobile and on desktop?
Check the hook with the tool
In the LinkedIn Format Pro editor, paste your text: the preview shows what stays visible before “See more” on mobile and desktop, and the hook analyser flags a greeting, an overlong first sentence or a badly placed cut. Everything is computed in your browser, with no account.
The figures on “See more” are observed values, not published by LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a trademark of LinkedIn Corporation; LinkedIn Format Pro is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by LinkedIn.