Guide
Hot take video format: your opinion, two reasons, 36 seconds
A hot take video gives a strong opinion on something happening in your industry right now, backs it with two reasons and asks viewers to pick a side. Below you get the structure, an example script and hook lines.
In short
- A hot take video is a short video with your strong opinion on something new in your industry.
- It runs 30 to 40 seconds. The example script below runs 36 seconds.
- Say your opinion in the first 3 seconds, without hedging.
- It suits consultants, agency owners and specialists who sell their expertise.
- A hot take brings comments, shares and followers. It rarely sells on its own, so do not make it your main ad.
- length of the example script below
- 36 s
- reasons behind your opinion
- 2
- to say your opinion
- 3 s
What is a hot take video?
It is a short video where one person gives a strong opinion on something new in their industry and defends it briefly.
- It opens with the opinion in under 3 seconds, then what prompted it, two reasons and a question for viewers.
- It runs 30 to 40 seconds in a vertical 9:16 frame.
- It reacts to something current, like a new rule, a trend other businesses are adopting, a product launch or a platform change.
- A hot take reacts to something new. An unpopular opinion is a belief you have held for years.
- It earns comments, shares and followers who come back for your view.
How to structure a hot take video
The opinion gets 3 seconds and the context 7. The context makes it a view on something, not a complaint.
- Each reason gets 9 to 10 seconds, based on what you have seen happen to real customers.
- Use two reasons from your own experience rather than five you read somewhere. You can defend your own, and 20 seconds only holds two.
- Give the closing question two possible answers, like paper or QR, in-house or agency, yes or no.
- A viewer can answer that with one word instead of writing a paragraph, so more of them reply.
A hot take video in 36 seconds
You say your opinion in the first 3 seconds, before any context.
Opinion
0-3 s. Your position, said plainly
Context
3-10 s. What prompted it this month
Reason 1
10-20 s. What you have seen happen
Reason 2
20-29 s. The cost people do not count
Question
29-36 s. Two sides, pick one
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
Example script: a 36-second hot take
This made-up example is a restaurant consultant. Each row is one part of the structure above.
Hot take example script for a restaurant consultant
81 words. Read at a brisk, natural pace, it runs about 36 seconds.
| Part | Time | What you say |
|---|---|---|
| Opinion | 0-3 s | Hot take. QR code menus are losing you money. |
| Context | 3-10 s | Half the restaurants on my street went back to paper this year, and the owners all told me the same story. |
| Reason 1 | 10-20 s | People order less from a phone. They skip starters, because scrolling a menu feels like work and nobody browses. |
| Reason 2 | 20-29 s | And the phone comes out at the table. Once it is out, it stays out, and the table turns slower. |
| Question | 29-36 s | Paper or QR? Tell me which one your best night ran on. |
Part: Opinion
- Time
- 0-3 s
- What you say
- Hot take. QR code menus are losing you money.
Part: Context
- Time
- 3-10 s
- What you say
- Half the restaurants on my street went back to paper this year, and the owners all told me the same story.
Part: Reason 1
- Time
- 10-20 s
- What you say
- People order less from a phone. They skip starters, because scrolling a menu feels like work and nobody browses.
Part: Reason 2
- Time
- 20-29 s
- What you say
- And the phone comes out at the table. Once it is out, it stays out, and the table turns slower.
Part: Question
- Time
- 29-36 s
- What you say
- Paper or QR? Tell me which one your best night ran on.
Hook lines for a hot take
The hook is your opinion itself, short enough to fit on one caption line. Fill in the brackets with your own details.
- Hot take. [Popular practice] is losing you [money, clients or time].
- Everyone in [industry] is doing [trend] this month. I am not. Here is why.
- [New rule or tool] changes less than you think. Two reasons.
- Example: Hot take. QR code menus are losing you money.
Where to put b-roll and captions
Keep your face on screen for most of the video. Viewers are judging whether you mean it.
- Show your face for the opinion and for the closing question.
- Use one or two clips for the reasons, like a table full of phones or an untouched starter plate.
- A loud caption style with one or two words per line suits a strong delivery.
- Burn in the captions, so your opinion reads with the sound off.
Common hot take mistakes
The usual mistake is a strong tone around an opinion everybody already holds. Viewers notice within one sentence.
- An opinion nobody disagrees with is advice, not a hot take. If no one in your field would argue, pick another.
- Do not open with "this might be controversial, but". Say the opinion flat, then give the exceptions in your second reason.
- Attacking people instead of a practice backfires. Argue with the menu, not the owner.
- Ending without a question wastes the comments. Ask viewers to pick a side.
When to use a hot take
It works in the days after something changes in your field, while people are still forming a view.
- Consultants and agency owners use it to build an audience of peers and clients.
- Founders use it when the rules or the tools in their market changed this month.
- The thing to react to usually comes from trade press, a supplier's price change or a new rule. Platforms also publish their own update notes.
- It is an unpaid format on Reels, TikTok and Shorts. On Shorts, put your opinion in the title.
- Answer the strongest disagreement with a reply video within a day or two.
- It is a poor fit for product ads. A viewer who disagrees with the opinion now disagrees with the product.
Making a hot take video with Cutroom
Cutroom edits the video for you, which helps with a format that goes stale in days. You say your opinion in one go and get a finished vertical video back.
- You upload one video of yourself talking, up to 3 minutes long.
- The edit comes back in about a minute, with captions timed to your voice, a headline at the start and b-roll over the words it matches.
- You pick one of 40 caption styles for the whole video, then its font and colour.
- You get a 9:16 MP4. A 30-second video costs 110 credits.
- Your first video is free, no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It carries a Cutroom mark; Lite at $19.99 a month removes it.
Loud caption styles for a strong opinion
Caption styles in the Cutroom editor that put one or two heavy words on a line.
Shout
Meme
Ember
Slant
Questions people ask
- How long should a hot take video be?
- 30 to 40 seconds. The example here runs 36 seconds and 81 words. Your opinion should be out in 3 seconds. Past 40 seconds most people start adding exceptions, and it stops sounding like an opinion.
- What is the difference between a hot take and an unpopular opinion?
- Timing. A hot take reacts to something that changed this week or this month, and it goes stale. An unpopular opinion is a belief you have held for years against most people in your field, and you can post it any time.
- Will a hot take hurt my business?
- It can, if it insults the customers you want. Give opinions on practices, tools and trends, not on groups of people. A hot take works when the people you want as clients agree with it, even if some people in your trade do not.
- What if someone in the comments turns out to be right?
- Say so in the comment, in one line, and name the point they got right. If it changes your view, say that in your next video. Do not delete the comment, because other viewers have already read it.
- How often should I post hot takes?
- Once or twice a month at most. They depend on something changing in your industry, and a feed of nothing but strong opinions wears thin. Mix them with FAQ videos, checklists and myth busting videos so your account also teaches.
- Is there an app that edits hot take videos quickly?
- Yes. Cutroom turns one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes long, into a 9:16 video with captions and a headline at the start. The edit comes back in about a minute. Your first video is free.
- When is a hot take the wrong format?
- For an ad that has to sell, and for any subject where you have no first-hand experience. To sell a product in the same video, use a problem agitate solve ad or a comparison video instead.
Say your opinion while it is still current. Cutroom has it captioned and edited in about a minute. Your first video is free.