Confession of our faults is the next thing to innocency.

Owning a fault plainly restores most of what the fault cost. Not all of it, and far more than an explanation or a defence ever will, because what people are really assessing is whether you can be relied on to see yourself clearly. The admission is what makes the next thing you say believable.

When you get something wrong, say what you did without the surrounding context that softens it. Then say what you will do instead. Skipping the excuse is the whole technique, and it is much shorter than the alternative.