PhraseryPhrasery homeGet Phrasery
Email & messages21 categories

Apologise properly, once

You got something wrong and the apology needs to land before the excuse does.

Longapologydifficult
Write an apology for the situation below.

It must contain, in this order:
1. What I did, named specifically. Not "any inconvenience caused".
2. The effect it had on them, showing I understand it.
3. A plain apology in the active voice. "I am sorry that I...", never "I am sorry if you felt...".
4. What I am doing about it now, with a date.
5. What stops it recurring, if there is a real answer. If there is not, say the honest version rather than inventing a process.

No explanation before the apology. A short reason may follow it, once, and only if it helps them predict my behaviour rather than excuse it.

Then tell me if the draft over-apologises, which shifts the burden onto them to reassure me.

What happened:

Making it yours

  • Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
  • Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
  • If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.

Hard news and conflict. Bad news, apologies, angry replies, boundaries and feedback that has to survive in writing.

Related prompts

Deliver bad news in writingA slipped deadline, a cancelled project, a decision that will land badly.Reply to an angry messageSomething landed in your inbox that made your heart rate go up.Set a boundary in writingMessages at midnight, creeping scope, or a pattern you need to name once.Give difficult feedback in writingThe conversation has to happen in text and you get one shot at the wording.Write a resignation or offboarding noteYou are leaving and the note will outlive the feelings you have today.Bad news in the first lineA slipped deadline or a cancelled plan that somebody will be unhappy about.

Keep this one

Phrasery saves prompts with a right-click and puts them back the same way. Add this to your own library in one click.

Add to your browser — free