If you want people to listen, tell them a story. That much has always been clear, from the early days of hieroglyphics to the rise of books, movies, and TV.

Today, it seems like YouTube is the best place to share those real, authentic stories — and for good reason. YouTube viewers watch over 

 each day. To meet this demand, creators are posting over 500 hours of content 

In other words, the competition is heating up! With so many storytellers on YouTube, it takes more than fancy equipment, the right keywords, and a juicy title to get more watch time. For that, you need to 

Did you know most people stop watching a YouTube video after 30 seconds? If you looked at the audience retention graph for that content, you would see something like this:

A YouTube audience retention graph that shows viewership decreasing after the 30-second mark

So what does it take to keep viewers engaged?

 study, it’s all about emotion. Viewers pay attention when you make them feel something or change their emotional state, especially when watching movies. Their brains “light up” because they're engrossed in what's happening, be it a sad, happy, or shocking scene.

If you want to do this on YouTube, study the movies and TV shows that hold  your attention. Look at how those stories are structured so you can use the same format on YouTube.

A Storytelling Format that Gets More Watch Time

Now that you know emotional content makes people listen, how do you pump those moments into your videos?

, and hundreds of other movies. It focuses on a single protagonist, an adventure they take, and what they learn along the way.

Here’s what the hero's journey looks like:

 We meet the hero and see their normal, mundane life.

 The hero feels "called" to go on a mission or adventure.

 Fear or discomfort holds the hero back.

 A role model gives the hero advice and wisdom.

 The hero enters a new world, faces challenges, and meets enemies.

 Setbacks occur while the stakes are rising.

 The hero faces their greatest test thus far.

 The hero reaps the rewards of victory (a skill, knowledge, etc.).

 The hero heads home, but there are still more enemies to fight.

 A final test becomes the story's climax, where the hero draws upon everything they’ve learned.

 Evil is defeated, everyone’s safe, and the hero is transformed forever.

A video-game-style graphic showing the hero's journey.

With this plot device, you can explore concepts like fear, loss, growth, and triumph — which is why it works! Each chapter sparks a new emotion in the protagonist 

 the viewer. Thanks to a powerful insight (emotion = attention), we know this plot device can 

You can use the hero’s journey in almost any video, but it works best in challenge or storytime content. 

So as a quick example, we’ll share two videos from those categories. You'll see how both stories follow the hero's journey, even if the creators tweaked them a bit for YouTube.

It's also worth mentioning that these videos got massive views. So there's a good chance they had lots of watch time, which prompted the 

Ryan Trahan: “I Spent 100 Days in Pokémon”

 is known for his legendary challenges, including one where he used 

 to cross North America. In the video below (1 million+ views), he uses the hero’s journey for a gaming challenge.

0:46–1:01: Ryan challenges himself to live inside 

1:02–1:58: Ryan starts his journey by meeting the main characters and choosing his first Pokémon.

Ryan choosing Fuecoco, a fire type, as his first Pokemon.

1:59–3:09: Ryan enters a whole new world by playing the game in “nuzzlock mode." He has to nickname all of his Pokémon, only battle with Pokémon that haven't fainted, and only use the first Pokémon he catches in any given area. If all of them faint, it's game over.

3:10–19:00: Ryan faces battles, missions, and side quests. He loses several Pokémon along the way but defeats every gym leader by day 81!

23:08–23:45: Ryan loses “QuackBoom,” a strong Pokemon that brought him super far in the game. It’s a sad loss! (RIP QuackBoom)

An image of QuackBoom the Pokemon, his achievements in the game, and text that says "RIP QuackBoom"

 Ryan defeats the Elite Four (top trainers in the Pokémon league).

31:07–33:00: Ryan defeats the champion of all champions in the Pokémon league. He gives an emotional speech about what's he’s learned while playing Pokémon over the years.

Lynette Adkins: “I Had to Reprogram My Mind to Create My Dream Life”

 is a lifestyle creator who talks about navigating life and evolving your mindset. In the video below (336,000+ views), she shares a major life update using the hero’s journey.

0:00–1:22: Lynette talks about having an unfulfilling job where she felt overworked.

1:23–2:28: Lynette feels “called” to make a mindset shift to live her dream of becoming an entrepreneur.

2:28–4:28: Lynette meets her “mentor,” which is really her self-conscious. By listening to her innermost thoughts, she starts to believe her true desires can come true.

5:33–6:38: Lynette starts changing her life by avoiding toxic relationships, not overworking, getting hobbies, and more.

6:39–8:35: Lynette enters a new mindset but struggles to create boundaries at school and work. She realizes she’s holding herself back due to self–limiting beliefs.

8:34–10:25: Emerging victorious, Lynette explains how to change your life by removing self–doubt.

To master YouTube storytelling, you must look outside of YouTube. Study the classics that laid the foundation for every plot device we know today. 

. Then you can use those stories as a blueprint to make emotional, captivating content. That's how you get more watch time on YouTube!

But if you need more advice, here are 5 more ways to keep viewers entertained.

A female YouTuber records a video in her living room

Want to get more watch time on every YouTube video? Use this storytelling secret to captivate viewers and keep them engaged.

The Art of YouTube Storytelling: A Secret Path to More Watch Time

Do your YouTube videos earn enough watch time? It's not an easy question to answer, but it's one you should ask often.

. It represents the total amount of time people spend watching your videos, so it's in your best interest to increase that number. The more watch time you have, the easier it is to monetize your channel and get more video views.

 to qualify for the YouTube Partner Program (along with 1,000 subscribers). Once you're in, you can make money through video advertisements and hopefully earn a full-time income.

Plus, videos with high watch time – among other things – send a positive signal to YouTube's algorithm. So as you improve that metric, YouTube might 

But if you're struggling to get YouTube watch hours, don't worry. Here's how to increase the amount of time people spend watching your videos.

1. Start with an Attractive Title and Thumbnail

Imagine what it's like to browse the YouTube homepage. There are dozens of videos to look at, with bold, colorful thumbnails. If you want to earn any watch time to begin with, you need a graphic that stands out and encourages viewers to click.

YouTube Thumbnail Guide: 9 Ways to Boost Click-Through Rate

Take a look at the vidIQ thumbnail below. It's paired with one of our popular videos, "How To Check Who Has Subscribed to Your YouTube Channel (New Method)."

Viewers responded so well to this thumbnail that the video has:

In other words, 15% of people who saw the thumbnail decided to click on the video – which is pretty good! And once viewers clicked, we gave them a fantastic video that has collected 

Thumbnails pop out at viewers first, but titles play a role too. Make sure yours are better than the standard YouTube title, which has relevant keywords and a clear topic. 

 have all of that, plus a mysterious aura that whispers, "Click me."

Your video needs more than a basic introduction if you want to increase your watch hours. It's best to create a 

 that reels viewers in and keeps them watching past the 30-second mark, where most people click away.

To see what we mean, go to your YouTube analytics and look at the 

Finally, click on any video and scroll down to 

Take a look at the audience retention graph for the video you selected. More than likely, it has a line trending downward after 30 seconds. That line is shaped like a hockey stick, and the first "bend" is where people stopped watching your video.

The right video hook should do four things to combat this:

Do all of the above in less than 30 seconds

Need an example? The video below checks all four boxes. The hook is only 20 seconds long, and Rob Wilson (our expert YouTuber) is having fun. He's teasing valuable parts of the video, being playful, and making us chuckle at a few memes.

Thanks to our hook, 71% of viewers were still watching at the 30-second mark. That's better than our typical performance.

Over time, little victories like these increase your watch hours on YouTube.

Have you ever watched a YouTube video with long, never-ending scenes? How did it make you feel inside?

If words like "bored" or "disinterested" come to mind, you can guarantee your viewers feel the same way. No one wants to see the same thing for several minutes, especially if nothing new pops onto the screen. That's the fastest way to kill your watch time as people exit the video.

The solution? Use the almighty jump cut. It's a video editing technique that breaks longer scenes into two or more clips to 

, arguably the best YouTuber ever, does it. He's the jump-cut king, so there's never a dull moment in his videos.

As mentioned before, hundreds of people leave videos at the 30-second mark. They either get bored, look for better videos, or leave to do non-YouTube-related things. It's normal and to be expected.

But if you want to squeeze in some extra watch time, place 

 is anything that changes a person's behavior or thinking process for a short while. On YouTube, the best pattern interrupters stop viewers from thinking, "I should leave this video."

If your content has any of these elements, you're already using pattern interrupters:

These elements break up the monotony of previous scenes, so viewers stay engaged.

5. Don't Announce the End of a Video – Just Leave

This might be an unpopular opinion, but most videos don't need outros. If the viewer already got what they came for – entertainment, instruction, etc. – there's no incentive to keep watching beyond that.

So instead of doing an outro, just end the video without warning. Otherwise, people will look for the X button when you say things like, "That's about it" and "Those are all of my tips." 

And when they leave, they'll take extra watch time with them.

Want more tips for boosting your watch time on YouTube? 

Learn which videos don't count toward the 4,000 hours you need to monetize your channel.

Are you wondering how to get watch time on YouTube? Minute by minute, here’s how to hold viewers’ attention on any video.

5 Ways to Increase YouTube Watch Time on Any Video

Are viewers watching your YouTube videos to completion? Is your audience retention so high that 70% of people are still watching after the first 30 seconds?

If not, you have an opportunity to improve the "stickiness" of your videos. This is a special kind of video magic that stops people from clicking away. Creating sticky videos is about identifying what’s working (or not) to keep viewers engaged.

This simple act will help you flourish on YouTube. The algorithm loves to 

YouTube Watch Time - The Secret Sauce to More YouTube Views and Subscribers

The first step is understanding how audience retention works. Keep reading to discover this metric on your own channel, plus six simple ways to keep people watching.

 shows how many viewers are watching a video throughout the beginning, middle, end, or altogether. The "altogether" rate is shown as a percentage of total views. So for example, if you post a 12-minute video, and people watch for eight minutes on average, your audience retention rate is 66%.

In the YouTube Studio, you’ll see different moments within a video that affect your audience retention, such as:

 where viewers re-watched or skipped certain parts

 where viewers skipped a section or left the video completely

These moments highlight where viewers are losing or gaining interest during a video.

Take a look at the image below from YouTube’s 

 to see what each moment looks like on an audience retention graph.

 is a key retention metric. It’s an estimate of how many minutes viewers watched a video, on average. Increasing this number, as well as other retention metrics, can boost your views on YouTube.

“YouTube’s search and discovery system loves videos that people have found satisfying, and a great way it determines that is audience retention,” creator liaison Matt Koval said in a Creator Insider 

How to See Your Channel’s Audience Retention

Want to see if your videos are truly engaging? Follow the steps below to find out.

 (click your profile image and select YouTube Studio).

Select the video you want to analyze. Choose from the list of videos shown or use the search bar to find a specific video.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page. You’ll see a graph showing the video’s average view duration and average percentage viewed.

This data is from a video of ours, titled “

YouTube’s Discovery Algorithm...Exposed

.” The audience retention graph shows that:

On average, viewers watched the video for 

, a new YouTube metric. It compares videos of similar length on your channel and tells you if the video you're analyzing is performing better or worse than previous content.

Audience retention varies widely. It can change depending on the length of your video, the topic, and the audience. For example, a gaming or education channel’s retention could be low because of 

Young children are intrigued by gaming videos, but they have short attention spans. An adult who watches a video about investing may skip certain parts to find one piece of information. There are many reasons people don’t finish a video, so take your niche, as well as audience behavior, into consideration.

What Is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?

First, know that there isn’t a golden percentage for audience retention. Viewers have different intentions for watching a video, which leads to shorter or longer Watch Time. That’s not a bad thing at all. It leaves you free to analyze your data and make adjustments without comparing yourself to others.

But if you need a benchmark, our YouTuber-in-residence Rob Wilson has a number in mind.

“If your video is longer than five minutes, and audience retention is above 50%, you’re probably doing a good job,” Wilson says. “If your video is longer than five minutes, and you’re getting audience retention above 70% in the first 30 seconds, then you’ve got your hook on the video and you’re doing a good job.”

Want his full opinion on audience retention (and another important metric)? Watch the video below to hear Wilson explain in more detail:

How to Increase Audience Retention on YouTube

With everything we’ve covered, here are some tips for increasing audience retention:

During the first 30 seconds, hundreds of people will click away from the video. But you can reduce that number by catching viewers’ attention early. Just think: What would intrigue them so much that clicking away is not an option?

 Some people think chapters encourage viewers to leave a video quickly, but that’s not always the case. For example, would you rather someone click away in the first 30 seconds or watch a three-minute chapter that answers their question? You get more Watch Time from the second option, especially if you’re making valuable content.

Give viewers a sneak peek of what’s coming.

 In your intro, tease the juiciest part of your video without giving away all the details.

Use pattern interrupters to keep viewers engaged. 

Create variety by adding graphics, music changes, lower-thirds, and different camera angles.

Make your videos as long (or as short) as they need to be.

If you can cover a topic in five minutes, end the video there. Lengthy segments that don’t add value will push viewers to click away, which hurts your audience retention. If the information will truly help and engage viewers, it’s OK to keep going.

Study your audience retention graphs in the YouTube Studio.

 Follow the directions in this post so you can check your audience retention for every video. As you investigate, pay attention to the percentage of viewers watching after the first 30 seconds. Is that number low? Maybe you need a better intro or a juicier sneak peek. Next, identify what’s happening in the rest of the video. Are there spikes where almost no viewers clicked away? Replay those portions and try to understand what made people stick around. Keep doing what’s working, and experiment with new pattern interrupters when your audience retention starts to dip.

Boosting your audience retention is smart, but there’s one step to conquer before that.

You need viewers to see your thumbnails and click them to start watching your content. Here are six solid tips to improve your click-through rate every single time.

Want to boost your YouTube audience retention? Here are six ways to improve that metric and keep viewers watching for longer.

How to Increase Audience Retention on Every YouTube Video

What’s your average view duration on YouTube? For every video you post, do people watch to the end or leave midway?

To us, a 50% duration is phenomenal. It’s hard to get viewers to go any further than that. Meeting or even crossing the 50% threshold means you’re doing something right on YouTube.

If you’re not there yet, don’t worry. We have two suggestions to increase your average view duration:

Post some YouTube Shorts on your channel.

Shorts, which are vertical videos of less than a minute, are capable of holding viewers’ attention. It’s easy to finish a video that’s only 20 or 30 seconds long.

4 Tips to Grow Your Channel With YouTube Shorts

That creates a huge opportunity for you. By posting quality Shorts, you can get close to a 100% view duration, on average. This helps you penetrate the YouTube algorithm, which suggests videos with a high Watch Time to viewers. And if you 

 – videos that have no discernable end or beginning – you can convince someone to watch twice, which doubles your Watch Time.

How to Get 4,000 Hours of Watch Time and Monetize Your Channel

 of 4.9 million subscribers. Viewers used to watch nearly 100% of his content. That percentage climbed to almost 200% when he started looping his 3D Minecraft Shorts. Without realizing it, viewers were watching each video twice.

The screenshot below shows Fellman's average view duration, which doubled from January to April.

Here’s how Fellman looped his Shorts to earn more Watch Time.

Fellman is used to getting several million views on a Short. He’s been doing that for months now, so the numbers have to change drastically for him to take notice.

One day, he posted a Short of a skeleton getting shot with a red arrow. It performed so much better than his previous videos, even though they had millions of views. So he decided to investigate.

“When it clicked in my head that I needed to start making loops, was when the arrowhead video went from one million to 20 million views in the course of a couple of days – which just never happens with any videos,” Fellman says. “It did 15 million views in 48 hours. Typically, my top-performing video in 48 hours, for a good week, tops off around three or four million.”

The looped arrowhead video is titled “Minecraft RTX 24% Arrowhead Loop.” Press play below to view the Short, which seems to have no beginning or end:

YouTube has a built-in loop function for Shorts. If the viewer doesn’t swipe to the next video, the same Short plays again. When the replay creates a perfect loop, someone can mistakenly watch a video twice – maybe three times – before realizing the video is over. That’s when the Watch Time soars above 100%.

Want to increase your Watch Time? Do these three things to make Shorts that seemingly play forever.

 Fellman’s looped Shorts are rarely longer than seven or eight seconds. The longer a video is, the harder it will be to replicate a scene without the viewer realizing what happened.

Add one still frame to the beginning and end of your Short. 

On YouTube, there’s a brief delay before the start of a video. So if you rewatch a video, one second will pass before it plays again. Fellman takes advantage of the delay by adding a still frame to the beginning and end of his Shorts. The frames are identical, so it’s difficult to know the video has looped after two plays.

If the music in your Short doesn’t loop perfectly, it ruins the effect. Viewers will instantly know they’re watching a loop.

Looping a Short to get more Watch Time feels like a grimy hack. But according to YouTube, that’s exactly what you should be doing as a creator. It’s one of the growth strategies YouTube suggested in a recent 

In the screenshot above, you’ll see some of the same tactics Fellman uses. YouTube encourages creators to make really short videos and add frames to the end if they want to create loops.

But maybe you’re just getting started with Shorts. If you aren’t in the looping phase just yet, 

 to increase views on short, vertical videos.

This simple hack for YouTube Shorts will help you double your Watch Time. Keep reading to harness the power of looped content.

How to Double Your YouTube Watch Time by Looping Shorts

Earning 4,000 hours of Watch Time is the dream for most creators, but it isn’t easy. Gaining 100 hours, sure. But thousands? That’ll test your determination to keep going on YouTube. Essentially, you have to post multiple videos and hope people watch them for long enough.

But once you have 4,000 hours, everything gets easier. You’ll be one step closer to applying to the YouTube Partner Program, which lets you monetize your channel with advertisements. Having those valuable hours allows you to focus on other things, too, like 

. That’s the second milestone required for the YPP.

YouTube Partner Program – How to Monetize Your Channel

When you’re collecting Watch Time hours, it’s easy to overlook certain parts of the process. The biggest, most understated thing, is that 

These 5 Videos Aren’t Eligible for YPP Watch Time

Before you start earning Watch Time, know which videos are in your best interest to create. There are five videos that make it hard – in most cases, impossible – to reach 4,000 hours.

Years ago, private and unlisted videos counted toward YPP Watch Time. 

 when YouTube decided that public videos, not partially viewable content, could accumulate watch hours.

prioritize public videos over private or unlisted ones.

 Unlisted videos can only be watched if certain people have the link. This privacy option benefits creators with specific content plans. They may want to send videos to friends and family or create a webinar for a limited audience.

If you’re trying to monetize your channel, unlisted and private videos aren’t very helpful. Make sure videos that need to be public are, in fact, set to public. That’ll help you reach 4,000 hours and apply to the YPP.

How to set private or unlisted videos to public on YouTube

Log in to YouTube on desktop. Click your profile icon and select 

You’ll see a list of all the videos on your channel. Find the videos you want to make public, then go to the 

 column. Click the eyeball symbol to reveal a menu of options: private, unlisted, members only, and public. Choose 

 from your monetizable total. For example, imagine your channel has 2,000 watch hours. If you delete a video that contributed 500 of those hours, you’ll be left with 1,500. Before you delete anything, check to see how many watch hours your content has earned.

Sometimes deleting a video is inevitable. Maybe you’ve grown as a person since it was first published and want to clean up your image. Or perhaps someone appeared in your video without prior consent, and they want you to take it down. Whatever the reason, make sure it’s worth deleting a video and losing precious watch hours.

Have you created video ads for YouTube? If you were hoping these would help you apply to the YPP, unfortunately, they won’t. Watch hours from advertising campaigns don’t count toward YouTube monetization. Even if you’ve earned 10,000 hours, none of it will go toward the 4,000 hours you need.

This seems fair because ads can get millions of views. If YouTube counts them for YPP acceptance, that’ll create a shortcut to monetization.

Short, vertical videos and how they relate to the YPP is a complicated subject. We know that 

; YouTube made that clear a few months ago. The platform also announced that Watch Time from Shorts doesn’t contribute to a creator’s 4,000-hour goal. But will this change in the future? Is there a monetization program just for Shorts in the works?

Only time will tell. For now, know that Shorts won’t help you monetize your channel – not quickly, at least.

There’s a small caveat to this statement, though. If a Short is viewed on the Shorts shelf, a display area for brief, vertical videos, it won’t earn YPP watch hours. But if the same video is viewed on a regular watch page with YouTube ads and a comment section, you can earn eligible Watch Time.

So while Shorts are mostly viewed on the Shorts shelf, they 

 get played in monetizable areas. If you need all the watch hours you can get, take advantage of this loophole. Those seconds, however small, add up.

Live streams are a great way to increase your Watch Time. These videos are usually lengthy, and if people stick around until the end, you can add several hours to your analytics.

According to YouTube, live streams that aren’t converted to video-on-demand content won’t earn YPP watch hours. The information around this is pretty vague, so we'd suggest making sure your live streams are public when they've ended. Don't archive a live stream by setting it to unlisted or private. 

Just to be sure, we asked YouTube if this advice made sense for creators. 

We didn't get a straightforward answer, but creators chimed in with their personal experience. A few of them said they earn Watch Time both during and after a live stream, which includes video-on-demand viewing.

You need 4,000 hours of Watch Time to monetize your YouTube channel. Unfortunately, the five videos below may slow your progress toward reaching that big, desirable goal.

YouTube Watch Time

The Art of YouTube Storytelling: A Secret Path to More Watch Time

Lydia Sweatt

5 Ways to Increase YouTube Watch Time on Any Video

Lydia Sweatt

How to Increase Audience Retention on Every YouTube Video

Lydia Sweatt

How to Double Your YouTube Watch Time by Looping Shorts

Lydia Sweatt

YouTube Monetization: Which Videos Count Toward 4,000 Hours of Watch Time?

Lydia Sweatt

Make Money on YouTube: How to Get 4000 Hours Watch Time

Lydia Sweatt

Quality Watch Time: YouTube's New Metric Could Change Everything

Rob Wilson

YouTube Watch Time: The Secret Sauce to More YouTube Views and Subscribers

Carla Marshall

I Didn't Get 4000 Watch Time Hours on YouTube... Do I Need To Start Again?

Rob Wilson

How to Get 4000 Hours Watch Time on YouTube So You Can Monetize Your Videos

Rob Wilson