Why Chrissy Teigen’s Choice of Headline Was Perfect
By: Renata Gomes
Tags: Self Improvement, Celebrity, Life Lessons, Writing

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Why Chrissy Teigen’s Choice of Headline Was Perfect

“Hi” is such a simple, powerful word.

After losing a baby to a risk pregnancy, Chrissy Teigen published a story on Medium talking about the experience and expressing her feelings. The story is well-written and deeply moving, and it quickly shot up to the #1 place of Medium’s most popular stories, where it stayed put for close to a week.

One particular detail of Teigen’s story grabbed a lot of writers’ attention: its headline, Hi.

One word, two letters. Hi.

Despite everything Teigen went through, and the obvious merits of her writing, some writers were still upset that someone could choose such a simple headline and still come away with millions of views because she’s famous. But Teigen’s story isn’t powerful only because she’s famous, but because of the context in which it was released, and her choice of title only contributes to its power.

You can huff and puf and rage about how someone with 30+ million Instagram followers doesn’t have to put a lot of thought into a headline, and yes, this headline only works because it’s attached to a name we all recognize, but that doesn’t mean the choice was bad.

Hi isn’t a weak headline, it’s personal, touching and humble. It was her first personal statement after what happened to her and her family, the first time she was coming out of silence to dare say a few words about her pain.

What else was Teigen supposed to title such a story?

I’ve Lost My Baby and It Was the Most Painful Day of My Life

How My Husband and I Are Grieving the Loss of Our Baby

I Lost a Baby, and I’m Heartbroken

While these might get clicks if they were published by someone other than a celebrity, they don’t fit Chrissy Teigen’s story at all. Can you imagine if any of those had been her headline? It would sound a lot more like a celebrity trying to gain further attention by exploiting a personal tragedy than a grieving mother and public figure trying to express her pain and reconnect with her fans after spending some time away from the spotlight.

After news broke that Teigen had lost her baby boy, social media was inundated with messages of support for her and her family. When, after seeing all commotion on social media and sharing my own condolences tweet, I saw the Hi headline next to her name on Medium, I thought, “she’s talking to me. She is messaging me.”

And she was.

As you read her story, you find out she’s messaging everyone who took a minute or two of their day to share a condolences message to her on social media. Her story is more than a statement, is a message back to everyone who’s messaged her and she can’t personally respond.

Hi is as personal as she can make it. After all, “hi” is how you answer a text from a friend who’s been inquiring about your well-being. “Hi” is the first word you use to break your silence, to say you’re ready to come out into the world without making too much of a fuss about it.

Hi is quiet and subtle — but powerful.

And yes, if anyone other than a celebrity wrote Hi on Medium, the story would definitely flop, but that’s beside the point.

The point is that the Hi headline was perfect for Chrissy Teigen’s story, it made sense in a context, and it carried her message with dignity, humility and grace.