A retention graph is the audience editing your video after the fact. Every shape in it points at a moment in the timeline, and most of them can be fixed in the next edit.

Dips

A sharp dip marks a moment viewers skipped. A slow slope marks a section that ran long. They need different fixes: cut the first, re-pace the second.

Bumps

A bump is a rewatch. Find out what was on screen. It is usually a number, a reveal or a line people wanted to hear twice, and it tells you what the next video should open with.

The cliff at the start

Every graph falls in the first thirty seconds. What matters is where it lands. If it lands under 60%, the opening promised something the video took too long to deliver.

• Compare the title and thumbnail with the first sentence
• Check how long it takes to reach the first piece of proof
• Look for an intro that could be removed entirely

The flat line

A flat middle is the goal, and it is built in the edit: a new angle, a graphic, a question or a change in sound every twenty to forty seconds. We call them pattern breaks and we mark them on the timeline before we cut.

You cannot fix a graph. You can only fix the next video using this one.

Do not compare across lengths

A four-minute video at 60% and a twenty-minute video at 45% may be the same quality of edit. Compare each video with others of its own length, and watch the direction over ten uploads rather than the result of one.