Start after the beginning
Raw footage almost always starts too early. The setup, the throat clearing, the context nobody asked for yet. The strongest opening is usually thirty to ninety seconds into the take, at the first sentence that would make a stranger curious.
Context can wait
Explaining who you are and what the video will cover feels responsible. It also asks the viewer to spend attention before they have any reason to. Show the interesting thing first, then explain it while they are already invested.
Nobody leaves because a video moved too quickly to the point.
Say what the video actually is
Vagueness in the opening is expensive. A viewer who cannot tell what they are watching will decide for themselves, and they usually decide wrong. One clear sentence about what this video is, delivered early, keeps the right people and lets the wrong ones leave quickly, which is fine.
- Cut everything before the first interesting sentence
- Make the promise specific enough to be checkable
- Deliver something real inside the first minute