How to Become a Storytelling Genius (Dopamine Ladders) — Transcript
Full transcript
- 0:00If you want to get people truly addicted
- 0:02to watching your content, there's one
- 0:03trick you should be using every single
- 0:05time. It's called the dopamine ladder.
- 0:08And if you can understand this one
- 0:09framework, you'll become a master of
- 0:11attention overnight. Now, I know this
- 0:13works because content is all I do all
- 0:15day long. I have a million followers.
- 0:17I've done billions of views. And I've
- 0:18spent years studying exactly how to use
- 0:21psychology to grow faster on social
- 0:23media and YouTube. So, in this video,
- 0:24I'm going to break down the six levels
- 0:26of the dopamine ladder. how it works,
- 0:29why it works, and most importantly, the
- 0:31specific tactics for how you can use it
- 0:33to your advantage. All right. Now,
- 0:34before I explain the dopamine ladder,
- 0:36it's critical to understand the
- 0:38psychology of how attention actually
- 0:40works. Like, what is really going on in
- 0:42a viewer's brain when they watch a
- 0:44video? And this alone will be a huge
- 0:46unlock for you. There are six stages of
- 0:48a viewer's journey when watching content
- 0:49that release increasing amounts of
- 0:51dopamine. And if you can ascend them
- 0:53through all six stages, they will have
- 0:54watched your entire video and want to
- 0:56come back to watch more. Now, eventually
- 0:58if you get them to the end of the
- 0:59dopamine ladder and you do that
- 1:00consistently, you will create a
- 1:02Pavlovian effect. And this really is the
- 1:05ultimate goal if you're making content.
- 1:07Pavlov is the famous scientist that
- 1:08proved classical conditioning. Every
- 1:10time he rang this bell, he gave a dog
- 1:12food so that eventually whenever the
- 1:14bell rang, the dog's mouth would water
- 1:16because it represented that sound with
- 1:18getting food. You're really going after
- 1:20this same thing when it comes to
- 1:21content. Because the ultimate sign of
- 1:23attention mastery is when you can make
- 1:25dopamine release in the brain of a
- 1:27viewer just by seeing your name or face
- 1:29without actually watching any of your
- 1:31content. And if you can do that, you've
- 1:33basically created a super fan that will
- 1:35watch every single thing you make. This
- 1:37is when you reach king status in
- 1:39attention land. Now, if you can learn to
- 1:40do this on command, you can pretty much
- 1:42build any business as big as you want.
- 1:44It's that powerful. Okay, so the
- 1:46question is, what are the six levels?
- 1:47And how do you make your content so that
- 1:49the viewer ascends through the dopamine
- 1:51ladder and you instill the Pavlovian
- 1:53response? And that's what we're going to
- 1:54break down right now. All right, the
- 1:56very first rung in the dopamine ladder
- 1:58is the exact same for all visual
- 2:00content. Whether it's short form or long
- 2:01form, it applies the same. And this
- 2:03first rung is called stimulation. Okay,
- 2:06the stimulation step is what happens in
- 2:07the very first one to two seconds of the
- 2:10video. Think of stimulation like a
- 2:11visual stun gun that gets someone to
- 2:13stop and lock in on one thing. It's like
- 2:15a deer in the woods noticing something
- 2:17out of the corner of their eye, and they
- 2:18can't resist the urge but to pick up
- 2:20their head, look, and lock in on that
- 2:22one spot. Now, dopamine from stimulation
- 2:25comes from colors, motion, and
- 2:26brightness that is picked up initially
- 2:29from the eye. So, literally, if you show
- 2:30a combination of colors, motion,
- 2:32contrast, and brightness that is
- 2:34different from what the viewer typically
- 2:35sees, they're going to get a hit of
- 2:36dopamine, and they will pause for a
- 2:38split second. And this is all you need
- 2:40to earn the space to get them to level
- 2:41two. Now, to prove this is how it works,
- 2:43I'm going to show eight 9x6 images on
- 2:46the screen with colors and motion, but
- 2:48I'm going to blur it out so you don't
- 2:49know exactly what they are. I want you
- 2:51to look at these and tell me exactly
- 2:52which one your attention goes to first.
- 2:54All right. Now, for most people, these
- 2:56were the two that they noticed and
- 2:58visually focused on. See, your eyes go
- 3:00to the ones that have more motion,
- 3:02color, and brightness. That's just how
- 3:03your subconscious brain works. You can't
- 3:05override it. And again, to prove it to
- 3:06you in another way, if you were to watch
- 3:08your social media on grayscale or black
- 3:10and white, I guarantee it just wouldn't
- 3:12be as interesting to you. What's really
- 3:14happening under the hood here in your
- 3:15neurochemistry is that your brain is
- 3:17processing things in two stages. The
- 3:19first stage is the rapid subconscious
- 3:21processing stage. It's called bottoms up
- 3:23processing. And this processing happens
- 3:25so fast in like 200 milliseconds that
- 3:27your eye and brain are just catching
- 3:30vivid colors in motion. They're not
- 3:31actually comprehending what they're
- 3:32seeing. But knowing this is how you hack
- 3:34people on the treadmill to pause and pay
- 3:36attention for a split second. So for
- 3:38you, the tactical tip is that when
- 3:39you're making your own content, you need
- 3:41enough color, motion, and contrast to be
- 3:43able to visually stun them for the first
- 3:441 to 2 seconds. But here's the thing. If
- 3:46everybody copies the exact same motion,
- 3:49color contrast pattern, the viewer will
- 3:51become desensitized because the whole
- 3:52feed will have it and then that will
- 3:54stop working. This is why coming up with
- 3:56your own unique visuals, your unique
- 3:58color palette, the motion, the aesthetic
- 4:00that you want is really critical because
- 4:01it helps you cut through the feed and
- 4:03trigger this subconscious stimulation.
- 4:05Okay, so that's level one. Now,
- 4:07stimulation is the weakest and the
- 4:08shortest of the dopamine releases, but
- 4:10it's a very important precursor like we
- 4:12said because if you don't trigger the
- 4:14focus, the rest of the levels don't even
- 4:16matter. All right, level two in the
- 4:17dopamine ladder is called captivation.
- 4:19And this is where the comprehension of
- 4:21what you say and how you say it really
- 4:23starts mattering. The first step was
- 4:24literally just visual brain hacking. But
- 4:26here, this is where the sauce really
- 4:28starts coming in. Now, captivation is
- 4:30the curiosity stage. Massive amounts of
- 4:33dopamine are released in the viewer's
- 4:34brain as soon as they are captivated by
- 4:36an open question that they ask in their
- 4:38own head. Many people call this a
- 4:40curiosity loop. Your video must drive an
- 4:42open question that puts the viewer into
- 4:44a loop so that they hunt for the answer.
- 4:46Now, the reason curiosity loops work so
- 4:49well for triggering dopamine is because
- 4:50the human brain is a problem-solving
- 4:53machine. It evolved to be really good at
- 4:55thinking critically and taking open
- 4:57complex questions and solving them. The
- 4:58bigger and more non-obvious the
- 5:00question, the bigger the curiosity, the
- 5:02higher the stakes, and the more dopamine
- 5:03that gets released. The more relevant
- 5:05the question to the viewer, the bigger
- 5:07the curiosity, the higher the stakes,
- 5:08and the more dopamine that gets
- 5:10released. For example, if you made a
- 5:11video that got a viewer to ask the
- 5:13question to themselves, hm, I wonder
- 5:15when the aliens are visiting Earth.
- 5:17Well, this is a pretty huge question.
- 5:18So, it could be very curiosityinducing.
- 5:20But if they don't care about aliens,
- 5:21then it's not going to be relevant at
- 5:22all and they're going to churn. They
- 5:24won't be captivated. So, tactically,
- 5:26it's important to ask yourself these
- 5:27couple questions as you're structuring
- 5:29the hook to make sure you're setting up
- 5:31the best possible question. First, what
- 5:33is the most curiosityinducing question
- 5:35that I could ask about this topic to
- 5:38trigger in the viewer's mind? And
- 5:39second, how well will that question map
- 5:41to something the viewer cares about
- 5:43given the ideal avatar I think I'm
- 5:45attracting? And then you have to figure
- 5:47out what words you say and visuals you
- 5:49show to try to get that question to pop
- 5:51in their head. Now, there's two ways to
- 5:52get a question to implant in a viewer's
- 5:54mind. You could literally ask it like
- 5:57rhetorically the way I just did, or you
- 5:59can imply it with details and try to get
- 6:01them to put it in their own head. Either
- 6:03way, as quickly as possible in the
- 6:04video, you need the viewer to pop a very
- 6:07interesting question in their mind or
- 6:08they're not going to be captivated. And
- 6:10if the question doesn't pop or it's just
- 6:11not that interesting, then they're going
- 6:13to bounce and you have no chance. So,
- 6:14for example, let's say I was scrolling
- 6:15the feed and I saw this really
- 6:17attractive person with this red and
- 6:19orange vivid graphic behind them that
- 6:21was moving. I might be stimulated enough
- 6:23from level one to pause for a second and
- 6:25see what they have to say. But then, if
- 6:27that person starts the video saying,
- 6:28"Here's how you do your makeup for the
- 6:30holidays." The questions that are going
- 6:31to pop into my mind are the following.
- 6:34How does she do her makeup? Why is she
- 6:35doing it like that? These are the types
- 6:37of questions that pop into a curious
- 6:38mind regardless of who it is. But for
- 6:40me, I don't obviously care about the
- 6:41topic of makeup at all. And so that's
- 6:43not relevant to me and I'm churning
- 6:44immediately. Basically, she got me on
- 6:46the stimulation and bought me into the
- 6:48first kind of question posing period,
- 6:50but then she didn't get me on the
- 6:52captivation. The reality is, if your
- 6:54hooks are not hooking, it means that the
- 6:55question that popped in the viewer's
- 6:57mind is either not relevant to them or
- 6:59just not interesting enough to hold
- 7:01them. So that's level two of the
- 7:03dopamine ladder. If you want to
- 7:04captivate the viewer and get them to
- 7:06keep watching, you have to pop a
- 7:07curiosity based loop in their mind from
- 7:09the question. The act of opening that
- 7:11loop will release dopamine. Now, here's
- 7:13a few pro tips for triggering a massive
- 7:15amount of curiosity in this process. For
- 7:17one, you can use contrast, where you
- 7:19compare a known thing to an unknown
- 7:21thing. Or two, you can frame a super
- 7:24shocking or weird premise that they've
- 7:26never seen or heard before. Typically,
- 7:28unknown things pop curiosity better than
- 7:30anything else because curious people
- 7:32want to know what the thing is they've
- 7:33never seen. All right, level three in
- 7:35the dopamine ladder is anticipation. So
- 7:37far, you've stimulated them initially to
- 7:39get them to give you a chance and then
- 7:41you've captivated them by opening a
- 7:43curiosity- based question in their head.
- 7:45This next step, anticipation, is super
- 7:47powerful and this is really where people
- 7:48get locked in into the video.
- 7:50Anticipation is what happens when a
- 7:52viewer begins to guess in their head
- 7:54what the answer might be to the question
- 7:56you just posed in level two. This is
- 7:58essentially a mystery novel playing out
- 8:00in their head in real time as they watch
- 8:02the video. Typically, what happens is as
- 8:04soon as a question pops in someone's
- 8:05head, they immediately are trying to
- 8:07anticipate what the answer might be.
- 8:09It's kind of like this subconscious
- 8:10guessing game that goes on. Now, the
- 8:12more information you give someone that
- 8:13helps them anticipate what the answer
- 8:15might be, the more curious they're going
- 8:17to become right up until the answer is
- 8:19revealed. The highest level of dopamine
- 8:20is achieved just before the answer
- 8:22comes. So what you want to do is give
- 8:24them details to get that anticipation
- 8:26close. Ratchet up that curiosity and
- 8:28then just before you deliver the answer,
- 8:30yank it away and head fake them in
- 8:32another direction. Typically adding
- 8:33misdirection, non-obvious twists, and
- 8:35head fakes is a great way to reset the
- 8:38curiositybased anticipation loop. And
- 8:41this will make them guess the answer or
- 8:42get distracted, pop a new question, and
- 8:44then restart the process. This is why
- 8:46it's called a curiosity loop. The loop
- 8:48is them seesawing between question,
- 8:50anticipation, and answer. Or if you
- 8:52don't want to yank away the answer, you
- 8:53could give them the answer and then pop
- 8:54a second question right after that.
- 8:56Either way, this looping game of new
- 8:58questions and new answers is how you
- 9:00build anticipation. Now, here's a big
- 9:02pro tip on anticipation. The viewer is
- 9:04only able to anticipate what the answer
- 9:06might be if they're clear on the facts
- 9:08that you're giving them. If you throw a
- 9:10bunch of rogue details in that don't
- 9:11really make sense with the question or
- 9:13they can't understand the facts that
- 9:14you're presenting, they're going to get
- 9:16confused and bounce. So tactically for
- 9:18you, as you develop your story, if you
- 9:20want to ratchet up anticipation, you
- 9:21want to ask yourself this. Based on the
- 9:23question the viewer should have in their
- 9:25head from level two, what should they be
- 9:27anticipating the answer to be? And based
- 9:30on that answer, what additional facts or
- 9:32context can we give them to get them
- 9:34closer to it? From there, should we give
- 9:36them the answer or is there a way to
- 9:37head fake or tease them away from it to
- 9:40reset that curiosity loop? This
- 9:42curiosity anticipation process is kind
- 9:44of like the edging of the storytelling
- 9:46world. Now, if you've ever seen those
- 9:48visual hooks where it looks like
- 9:49someone's about to get hit by a car, the
- 9:51car is like slowly approaching. This is
- 9:53using anticipation to get you to hold
- 9:55on. The reason these work so well is
- 9:56because you originally see the person
- 9:58and the car coming and it pops the
- 10:00question, is that person going to get
- 10:01hit by a car? Is that car really going
- 10:02to run them over? And then as the car
- 10:04slowly approaches, you start
- 10:06anticipating, wait, there's no way. Oh,
- 10:07wait. I think they might they might be
- 10:09getting hit by the car. Ah, and he comes
- 10:11really close. That anticipation building
- 10:13is in real time working to drive that
- 10:16curiosity in you. It releases dopamine
- 10:18as you anticipate what might happen.
- 10:21These are the types of hooks that play
- 10:22on the anticipatory instinct in your
- 10:24brain and they work super well at
- 10:26driving dopamine. All right, the next
- 10:27level in the dopamine ladder, level
- 10:28four, is called validation. Validation
- 10:31comes when you do end up giving them the
- 10:33answer to the question that you popped
- 10:35in level two. In other words, level four
- 10:37is you closing the loop. Now, the goal
- 10:39with validation is to make sure you
- 10:40reward or answer with something that was
- 10:42nonobvious that they wouldn't have
- 10:44expected before. Typically, with
- 10:46entertainment content, this is the
- 10:47resolution of the story. You don't end
- 10:49it on a cliffhanger. You actually wrap
- 10:50up the loose ends and close the loop
- 10:52nicely. For example, in the case of the
- 10:54incoming truck hook, usually they don't
- 10:56get hit by the truck and they end up
- 10:58being safe. And that's how you close the
- 10:59loop. Once that loop is closed, you
- 11:01realize the story is complete and more
- 11:03dopamine gets released as that's
- 11:05finished. On the education side, the
- 11:07validation or reward in this case would
- 11:10be you actually sharing the tip or the
- 11:12story or the recommendation that gives
- 11:14them concrete value that they can use to
- 11:16solve a problem. If the viewer leaves
- 11:18this flow without the loop being closed,
- 11:20they're going to be unsatisfied and they
- 11:22won't release that final dopamine. So,
- 11:23it's curiosity, question, anticipation,
- 11:26what could the answer be? And then
- 11:28validation, giving the actual answer.
- 11:30All three phases release dopamine at
- 11:32each time. are the first four levels we
- 11:34just went through of the dopamine
- 11:35ladder. These are kind of like the base
- 11:37levels that you can pull with any script
- 11:39and visual storytelling. And again,
- 11:41those were stimulation, captivation,
- 11:43anticipation, and then ultimately
- 11:44validation. But the last two levels of
- 11:46the dopamine ladder is really where you
- 11:48start building cult fandom. This is
- 11:50where you ascend beyond the individual
- 11:52story and into the storyteller. The
- 11:54first four have to do with the video
- 11:55itself. We'll call that the message. The
- 11:57last two are more with the messenger.
- 11:59Level five is called affection. Now,
- 12:01affection is the stage where the viewer
- 12:03starts taking a liking to the creator or
- 12:06personality that was delivering the
- 12:07story. And this is why it's kind of hard
- 12:09for Faceless content to fully ascend to
- 12:12that Pavlovian peak. It's easy for
- 12:14Faceless to get those first four levels,
- 12:16but it's hard when there's nothing to
- 12:17like, when there's no personality to
- 12:19attribute that taste, trust, and like
- 12:22to. And this is what happens in the
- 12:23brain. As the viewer begins to realize
- 12:25they like and trust the person that's
- 12:27delivering the message, more dopamine is
- 12:29released. And think about it, if you
- 12:31already like someone, you're going to
- 12:32give them a lot longer leash when you
- 12:34watch their content. For a stranger, you
- 12:36might churn right away. But if it's
- 12:37someone you like and you already know,
- 12:39there's dopamine that's being released
- 12:40there that buys a lot more time of your
- 12:42attention. Now, as long as that viewer
- 12:44recognizes it's you, that likability
- 12:46will carry over from video to video. So,
- 12:48of course, the million-dollar question
- 12:49that everyone asks is, "How do I improve
- 12:51my likability so that I can speed up
- 12:54that process to get through level five?"
- 12:56And here's four ways to improve your
- 12:57liability. The first one, attractiveness
- 13:00is a massive factor. Now, I hate to say
- 13:02it as someone who has a face for radio
- 13:03and a voice for vaudeville silent films,
- 13:05but the reality is when you're
- 13:07attractive, people just like you more.
- 13:09It's subconscious and it's how humans
- 13:11behave. So, if you're good-looking, lean
- 13:13into it, show yourself more, and I
- 13:14guarantee the liability will go up. The
- 13:16second thing that improves likability is
- 13:18your overall vibe. the way you look, the
- 13:20way you dress, the way you sit, your
- 13:22posture, the way you carry yourself. All
- 13:23of that signals silently to someone and
- 13:26it goes into them deciding if they like
- 13:27you more or not. The third thing,
- 13:29smiling is great for subconscious
- 13:31likability. Joy is an emotion that
- 13:34transfers through the camera lens. So if
- 13:35you look like you're happy or
- 13:36passionate, people will feel that warmth
- 13:38themselves when they watch you. And then
- 13:40fourth, and this is the easiest one, if
- 13:42you're making education content, if you
- 13:44actually solve a problem for them, max
- 13:46trust and likability will be
- 13:48transferred. The easiest way to get
- 13:49somebody to like you and trust you is to
- 13:51actually help them with something
- 13:52they're struggling with. Agnostic of how
- 13:54attractive you are, how smiley you are,
- 13:56etc. Number four is the strongest one.
- 13:58So, likability is one of those things
- 14:00that you want to try to improve over
- 14:01time. But the reality is you don't want
- 14:02to force it. Just be yourself. Be
- 14:04authentically passionate in what you're
- 14:05doing and then try to live that out. The
- 14:08more value you can deliver and the more
- 14:09valuable you can be, the more likable
- 14:11and trustworthy you will seem to the
- 14:13viewer. All right, we've approached
- 14:14level six, and this is really where the
- 14:16Pavlovian response really starts kicking
- 14:18in. But before we go into that, let's
- 14:19just recap where we were. The first
- 14:21level was stimulation. This was
- 14:22subconscious. It's motion, colors,
- 14:24brightness. All you have to do is get
- 14:25somebody to focus, a little bit of
- 14:27dopamine released, but that's what locks
- 14:29them in, right? So, that's the
- 14:30precursor. Then, we talked about the
- 14:31three levels that really have to do with
- 14:33the specific video and the storytelling
- 14:35in it. And that was captivation with
- 14:37initial curiosity, anticipation, getting
- 14:40them to guess what's going to happen and
- 14:42maybe leading them through a head fake
- 14:44or zigzag on that curiosity. And then
- 14:46ultimately validation, giving them the
- 14:48answer and closing the loop so that they
- 14:50get that dopamine release on the full
- 14:51cycle. Those were 2, three, and four.
- 14:54Then level five is likability. Right? So
- 14:56you've got the answer from the video,
- 14:58but now we've ascended beyond the
- 15:00message into the messenger and we're
- 15:01going to likability. If the viewer likes
- 15:03you, they'll give you more leash.
- 15:05They'll have dopamine release every time
- 15:07they see you because they'll remember
- 15:08that they like you and that'll be
- 15:10helpful. Level six, the final level, the
- 15:12final frontier, is called revelation.
- 15:15And this is really where the viewer
- 15:16begins to realize that you're going to
- 15:17be a continued source of value for them
- 15:19over time. Now, typically both
- 15:21entertainment and education content can
- 15:23ascend from level 1 to 5. But it's much
- 15:25easier for educational content to ascend
- 15:28from five to level six, revelation.
- 15:30Entertainment content can only get to
- 15:32level six if the viewer decides that
- 15:34that creator is going to be a consistent
- 15:36source of maximum entertainment for
- 15:38them. Meaning, every piece of content
- 15:40they see is going to for sure be above
- 15:42their line when it comes to
- 15:43entertainment. And this is just a really
- 15:45hard bar to achieve. Maybe Mr. Beast has
- 15:47this level of Pavlovian response.
- 15:49Anytime someone sees his face, they know
- 15:50it's going to be entertaining. But if
- 15:51you're an entertainment creator and
- 15:52you're not Mr. Beast, you're competing
- 15:54with Netflix, the NFL, Kaisat, Mr.
- 15:57Beast. It's just hard to beat the best
- 16:00maximum bar in the entertainment
- 16:02category. But on the education side, if
- 16:04you solve specific problems for people
- 16:06that they have in their life, they will
- 16:07tie you with a consistent source of
- 16:10value for solving in that area. And when
- 16:12they have this revelation that you're
- 16:14going to consistently help them, it
- 16:15releases max dopamine whenever they see
- 16:17you because you've trained that you
- 16:20equal value. That is the Pavlovian
- 16:22response. As a corlary, imagine dating
- 16:24someone and then realizing that over
- 16:26time after spending a lot of time with
- 16:27them, you always feel good and you
- 16:29always feel love. That means in the
- 16:31future whenever you hear their name,
- 16:32you're going to get a huge hit of
- 16:34dopamine because you're going to think
- 16:35positively and feel those feelings
- 16:37again. It's the same way here with
- 16:38content. Now, the way to achieve this
- 16:40level six revelation, especially with
- 16:42education content, is to deliver
- 16:44non-obvious differentiated value over
- 16:47and over and over. If they are deeply
- 16:49struggling with a problem that you talk
- 16:50about, it might only take a couple of
- 16:52pieces of content for them to ascend
- 16:54from level one to six and then build
- 16:55that Pavlovian response. If they're not
- 16:57really struggling with your topic area
- 16:59that much and it's more of a nice to
- 17:00have, it might take a lot more pieces of
- 17:01content for you to build that Pavlovian
- 17:03bond. But either way, when you can hit
- 17:05this level six state, you have won the
- 17:08attention game because it means if they
- 17:10hear your name, see your face, or see
- 17:12your name, even without watching the
- 17:13content, they're going to get the
- 17:15dopamine hit that leads them to watch
- 17:17it. All right. All right. Now, super
- 17:18quick before we end this video, I just
- 17:19want to show you one live example of an
- 17:21actual short form video and break down
- 17:23as I narrate through the dopamine ladder
- 17:25and the different levels as we ascend
- 17:27through them. And I'm just going to do
- 17:28short form video because it'll be easier
- 17:30to watch. And because I always do
- 17:31education examples, I'm going to do an
- 17:33entertainment example on this one. All
- 17:34right. So, this example is from a
- 17:36creator named Citizen. If you don't know
- 17:38him, he's kind of like a musician that
- 17:40uses these viral stitch clips to market
- 17:42his music. So, we're going to pull the
- 17:43video up on the side. We're going to
- 17:44watch it and then pause it a lot as I
- 17:46narrate through the different pieces.
- 17:50Okay, so the first step in the dopamine
- 17:51ladder, as we know, is stimulation. And
- 17:53this happens fast. Right away, there's a
- 17:55slight zoom in. You see two people
- 17:57hugging. You kind of see this like
- 17:59perspective from a car of a car. It's
- 18:01something you don't normally see on the
- 18:02feed. That alone is all that's needed to
- 18:05give me a slight hit of dopamine and
- 18:06narrow my focus on the video. Next, we
- 18:08go to level two, which is captivation or
- 18:11curiosity.
- 18:14Now, as I'm watching this unfold through
- 18:17the first like 2, three, 4 seconds, the
- 18:18questions that are popping in my head is
- 18:20this. First, who are these people? Why
- 18:22are they hugging? Do I care? This almost
- 18:24made me churn cuz I was like, why do I
- 18:26care about this?
- 18:29Then I look down and I read that little
- 18:30text across. It says, "Bro, what did I
- 18:32just witness?" And that pops the
- 18:33question in my head, "What are we about
- 18:35to see?" Now I'm curious again.
- 18:39Then as the girl walks away and gets in
- 18:41the car, I notice the shoelace stuck in
- 18:42the door and I notice him noticing it.
- 18:45And that pops the question, "Oh no, is
- 18:47he aware? Is she going to drive away?
- 18:48What's going to happen?" Right? Three or
- 18:50four rapid questions in succession. So
- 18:52at this point, my curiosity is pretty
- 18:53high. I've got all these open questions
- 18:55and I'm really curious to see what's
- 18:56going to happen. Next level three is
- 18:58anticipation.
- 19:01So, because I see the main character and
- 19:03he sees that he's stuck, I'm
- 19:04anticipating, is he going to get out or
- 19:06is he going to get dragged by the car?
- 19:08I'm trying to figure out what's going to
- 19:09happen. That's me anticipating the
- 19:11solution.
- 19:14Now, as the car starts pulling away, I
- 19:16can see he's going down. So, I'm trying
- 19:18to anticipate what's going to happen. Is
- 19:20he going to be dragged? Are they
- 19:20actually going to film this? Right? I'm
- 19:22still really curious. Now, level four is
- 19:24validation where I find out the answer.
- 19:27let me off.
- 19:27>> And in this case, he falls backwards
- 19:29like I would have expected, but then it
- 19:31hard cut match cuts away to him getting
- 19:33dragged singing a song. The audio comes
- 19:35in and he starts singing. That's not
- 19:37what I was expecting. So, I get the
- 19:38validation of closing the loop that he's
- 19:40okay, but also this shocking headfake
- 19:43moment where the answer is not what I
- 19:45expected. And because now I know he's
- 19:47not hurt, I get that dopamine release of
- 19:49that initial anticipatory loop closing.
- 19:51But also, I'm kind of interested in why
- 19:53is he doing this? Does this music video
- 19:55strategy work, etc.? All right, level
- 19:56five now is affection. Now, here,
- 19:59assuming this is the first video you've
- 20:00seen of this guy, you probably haven't
- 20:01seen enough to determine if you like or
- 20:03trust him or not. And with entertainment
- 20:05content, as I mentioned, it's a lot
- 20:06harder to determine affection and
- 20:08revelation than it would be with
- 20:10education content. But I will admit, I
- 20:12found this pretty funny and shocking,
- 20:13and I kind of give a hat tip to him. So,
- 20:15if I saw another video from him, I'd
- 20:17probably watch it because I wanted to
- 20:18see what crazy stunt is he going to come
- 20:20up with next. Now, level six, the last
- 20:22one, is Revelation. And it would have
- 20:24taken me probably several other videos,
- 20:25but eventually I would have realized
- 20:26this guy is like a viral marketer meets
- 20:29music, which is kind of an interesting
- 20:30category. And if I like marketing or
- 20:32music or his music, I might realize
- 20:35every time I see one of his videos, I
- 20:36get entertained in this unique way and
- 20:38also get to see his song. So I may
- 20:40associate this like entertainment value
- 20:42drip with him. Now, in this case, I'm
- 20:44not going to have the full Pavlovian
- 20:45effect because this is an entertainment
- 20:46use case, but you can imagine how this
- 20:48ladder would work for educational
- 20:50content, and if he was giving me a tip
- 20:52that I could use in my life, I might
- 20:54have that Pavlovian effect much faster.
- 20:56So, this is a great example of how the
- 20:58dopamine ladder works in content. And
- 21:00when Citizen made this video, he
- 21:02specifically engineered those pieces to
- 21:04trigger you through those loops so that
- 21:06you kept watching. And I promise you, if
- 21:08you take any piece of educational
- 21:09content that has worked on you and you
- 21:11analyze it in this way, going through
- 21:13these levels in the dopamine ladder,
- 21:14it'll all be there clearly why you liked
- 21:17it and why you kept watching. All you
- 21:19have to do is figure out how to reverse
- 21:20engineer that when you make your content
- 21:22and you'll be good to go. All right,
- 21:23guys. That is all I've got for this
- 21:25video. As a recap, we covered the full
- 21:27dopamine ladder, all six levels that you
- 21:30need to get the maximum dopamine
- 21:32released in the viewer's brain and get
- 21:33them to keep watching for longer. This
- 21:36will make them addicted to your content
- 21:37if you can do it consistently. Your
- 21:39goal, as I just mentioned, is to use
- 21:40these levels, this framework, as a
- 21:42checkpoint, as a checklist that you can
- 21:44ascend the viewer through. Are you
- 21:46driving the right curiosity? Are you
- 21:48driving the right dopamine releases?
- 21:50This is a great framework for that. As
- 21:52always, guys, I'm trying my absolute
- 21:53best to cover the non-obvious stuff that
- 21:55gives you an edge when you're trying to
- 21:57grow on social media and YouTube. And
- 21:58one last thing, if you're an
- 21:59entrepreneur or a business owner, I
- 22:00built a completely free community called
- 22:02Wavy World that has 65 other trainings
- 22:05just like this one. So if you want to
- 22:06learn the advanced mode of YouTube and
- 22:08social media, it's in there for free.
- 22:10Also, there's 37,000 other people in
- 22:12there that are all teamed up, partnered
- 22:14up, giving each other feedback. So if
- 22:16you want a peer group that's in the
- 22:17content trenches as a business owner,
- 22:19they're in there as well. I've got a
- 22:20free invite link for you below in the
- 22:22description. All right, we will see you
- 22:23guys on the next video. Peace.
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