4 steps for correcting important mistakes in statements

There are few feelings in the world as awful as pressing “send” or “publish” on a vital item and realizing you’ve made a mistake. The instant adrenaline down your spine, the shame, the fear of repercussions — ugh.

We have plenty of stories on how to avoid that terrible feeling in the first place. But despite our best efforts, sometimes errors still creep through. In 2024, Lyft’s stock price rollercoastered after an errant zero boosted the margin expansion rate. The company’s CEO claimed the typo crept through despite “thousands of eyes” reviewing the earnings report.

A simple, understandable error on a “Wicked” movie tie-in Barbie sent children to a pornographic site instead of the correct WickedMovie.com. Again, a mistake anyone can make — but one which captured headlines around the world.

So, let’s say you’ve made this mistake yourself — perhaps on something less high stakes than these, but still important, like an email from the CEO or a pitch to an important journalist.

What do you do next?

Fix it fast if you can

If you can recall that email, edit the intranet article or edit an item in production, do it as quickly as you can. It sounds obvious, but don’t let your panic overtake the opportunity to quickly solve the issue.

Determine if it needs a correction

So, it’s too late. Everyone has already seen your mistake. Sorry. But you might not need to do anything, save take a bit of good-natured ribbing over it.

The above examples obviously required correcting — one materially altered financial disclosure information while the other sent minors to decidedly adult material. But most mistakes are less dire.

If it’s a simple typo, you’re likely better off letting it slide. Yes, it’s tempting to make sure everyone knows you actually understand the difference between your and you’re, but a correction can often bring the mistake to the attention of more people. If you’re following up with an email just to mention a typo, you might annoy your recipient. Just take your lumps with grace.

But if you made a material error, you do need to follow up.

Set the record straight

How you tackle this will vary based on whether it was a mistake to a group of people or an individual.

If it was an individual, say a pitch to a journalist and you flubbed the name of your new product, approach them as a person. We’ve all made boneheaded mistakes. Approach them with humility and maybe even humor (depending on the person and your own personality), set the record straight and move on gracefully. If the mistake was already published, well, then you need this article instead.

Things can get a bit trickier when you need to correct an error to a large group. Maybe you sent the wrong date for your next town hall meeting, or an important link was incorrect. Here’s what to do:

• Address it in the medium it was first communicated. If it was in an intranet article, edit it and include a simple line at the top: This article has been updated to correct the date of the town hall. It will be held on Jan. 26. If it was an email, send the same information, but perhaps with a more personal touch: Whoops, we sent the wrong link for the 401K program in the last email — please use this one instead. Don’t belabor the point, get in and out.
• Reinforce the correct info elsewhere. Post the correct date or link on your internal social media platform, for instance, to get the right info into the hands of as many people as you can.
• Respond to every confused person. There’s a silver lining to getting a deluge of confused messages about an incorrect piece of information: it meant people were paying attention. So, take the time to send a nice note to everyone who contacts you about the flub with the right information. You can copy and paste this for speedier responses.

Making a public mea culpa

If you do find yourself in a situation like Lyft’s earnings snafu or the “Wicked” doll disaster, you need a broader statement and apology. Let’s look at how  Mattel handled it, according to a statement obtained by CNN.

“Mattel was made aware of a misprint on the packaging of the Mattel Wicked collection dolls, primarily sold in the US, which intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com landing page. We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to remedy this. Parents are advised that the misprinted, incorrect website is not appropriate for children.”

Here are the constituent parts:

• Acknowledged and named the error.
• Expressed regret and that they are taking action.
• Advised those affected on what action to take.

It perhaps could be improved with a bit more explanation of the actions taken to prevent the error in the future, but otherwise, it’s a simple, effective statement you can use to model your own.

Knock on wood.

Allison Carter is editorial director of PR Daily and Ragan.com. Follow her on LinkedIn.