We've all done it--offended someone with something
we've said, intentionally or not. Even the word-savvy
President Barack Obama slipped Thursday night
on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" when he
compared his poor bowling skills to those of the
participants in the Special Olympics.
Like Obama's blunder, there are a host of verbal
landmines that could befall otherwise well-intentioned
employees trying to interact with colleagues from
traditionally underrepresented groups. But what do
you do the moment after your gaffe? Do you open your
mouth and insert your foot? Or do you simply beg for
forgiveness?
To find out how to save face, we did a web search
for "how to apologize for something you've said" and
nearly 5 million results came up--everything
from "how to apologize to a woman" to "how to
apologize to your kids."
We then pulled together a list of four things to do
when you've made a verbal blunder.
