Two lines decide whether
anyone reads the rest.
LinkedIn only shows the start of your post until a reader taps "see more". On a phone that is roughly 140 characters. On a laptop, roughly 210. LinkedIn has never published these numbers, but they hold consistently across every independent test, and they are the biggest limit you are working against.
Watch your own opener get cut off.
Type or paste a draft. The card on the right is what a scrolling reader sees before they decide. Switch devices and notice how much less room a phone gives you, and how expensive a blank line is.
mobile preview used
46%
Roughly 140 characters or 3 lines, whichever runs out first. Each blank line uses up one of your visible lines.
First line
65 chars
Good. The opener lands whole, with room for a second line to pull.
Your name here
The headline people read before your words
Now · 🌐
We lost a £40k retainer because of one sentence in a status call. …
Everything below the red line is only seen by readers who choose to tap. Most will not.
Mobile is the default
Blank lines are expensive
Line two earns the tap
Eleven hooks that keep working.
Not templates to fill in. Shapes to recognise, so that when you have something real to say you can find the fastest way into it.
“We lost a £40k retainer because of one sentence in a status call.”
A specific loss with a price on it. The reader needs to know which sentence, and the only way to find out is to keep reading.
Fix the hook.
Read the weak version. Decide how you would rewrite it before you reveal ours. The point is not to match the answer, it is to notice what was missing.
Weak
Excited to share that we've just launched our new brand identity! 🚀
Weak
In today's fast-paced digital landscape, content is more important than ever.
Weak
Here are 5 tips for writing better LinkedIn posts. Thoughts?
Weak
Client success story: we helped a client grow their following. Read more below.
Weak
Leadership is about empathy. Who agrees?
Six ways to lose a reader in one line.
Throat-clearing
'I've been thinking a lot lately about…' Start where the thought landed, not where it began.
The announcement voice
'Delighted to announce'. Nobody has ever stopped scrolling for a press release.
Abstraction
'Culture matters.' No image, no stake, nothing to disagree with.
The obvious question
'Do you struggle with X?' The reader knows this is a set-up and resents it.
Front-loaded credentials
Your title is already on screen above the post. Spending line one on it wastes it.
The unearned cliffhanger
'What happened next changed everything.' It promises something the post rarely delivers, so readers leave and are less likely to stop for you next time.