Before You Hit Send

Before You Hit Send: Preventing Headache & Heartache by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs is such a needed book for our time, where social media is ubiquitous and thoughts can be sent over the entire world with a single click. The book description says:

"When will we learn?

With every sunrise we are given plenty of new examples of people “Hitting Send” and soon regretting it. Social media means what it says: it is social! Our methods of communication today allow for something to potentially be broadcast to everyone from Pekin, Illinois to Peking, China. But it’s not only Twitter fanatics who can find themselves in trouble. Every single one of us is capable of falling prey to this growing plague.

Every day we have the potential of both verbal and written blunders. It makes no difference if we are talking to a stranger over a meat counter, chatting on a cell phone with our mother, or sending an e-mail to a coworker; we can and do miscommunicate and people can and do get the wrong idea. When we don't pause long enough to think before speaking or writing, it commonly yields a misunderstanding and leads to a clash. We end up being the person who said, “You know that sphere of the brain that stops you from saying something that you shouldn't? Well, I don’t have one of those.”



This book is about preventing that misunderstanding and allowing for understanding. Said another way, preempting people from getting the wrong idea and enabling them to get the right idea! We all need work in this area in far more ways than just glancing through a checklist.



From external examples to internal turmoil, Before You Hit Send is about the four things we must think through before communicating. In all things we wish to say or write, we would be wise to ask ourselves,

Is it true?
Is it kind?
Is it necessary?
Is it clear?


When we ask and answer these four questions honestly, we will be thinking wisely before we speak. But to explore this fully, we need to find out a whole lot more about ourselves and uncover why we consciously and subconsciously get into these communication disasters to begin with. You may be surprised what you discover about yourself. Shall we begin?"

I was so happy to read this book, and I wasn't disappointed. I'm not a big fan of social media, and I'm dismayed by the problems it's exacerbated. However, this book doesn't just address social media and online communications, but also everyday communications, so absolutely everyone can relate to this book. Before You Hit Send is a clear, concise, and fairly short book of just 7 chapters. It focuses on all communications because True, Kind, Necessary, and Clear. Those are guidelines that every Christian should put into practice in every communication that's had - speech, writing, text, e-mail, social media, phone calls - literally every communication. I loved the quote in the introduction by Olivia Nuzzi: "Dance like no one is watching; email like it may one day be read aloud in a deposition." The old fashioned version of this quote is one my grandmother says frequently: "Don't ever put anything in writing that you wouldn't want printed on the front page of the New York Times". This book is timely, concise, well-written, and full of sage and sound advice. I highly recommend that everyone read this book, and put much more thought and prayer into every word they speak, write, or type.

I received a copy of this book from BookLook Bloggers in order to provide an honest and unbiased review. All opinions are my own.