Sunday night, comedian and daytime TV talk show host, Steve Harvey made probably the biggest blunder ever recorded by an announcer when serving as host of the Miss Universe contest, he announced the wrong winner.

In the clip above, which shows the whole scene (jump to 2:10 for the explanation), you see how such a large stage has so much riding on it.  However, with the amount of dramatic effect that was given for the announcement, Harvey really should have enough time to look at the card several times and read it.  However, if you note on the picture to the left, you will see that Harvey is holding the microphone with his left hand.

With the microphone in Harvey’s left hand, that means he is holding the card with his right hand.  Take a look at where his right hand is holding the card.  That’s a key factor in all of this, where is hand is.

Look at the picture to the right, and notice where the winner’s name is located.  Now, imagine you’re holding the card with your right hand and where are your fingers going to be located?

There are many things to be learned from all of this.  When you are given the final results, make sure you can read them.  If you are responsible for providing the final results, write BIG, preferably larger than the pre-written font on the card. You can tell USA, Colombia and Philippines are all smaller than the text that was already on that card.  You would think something that important would have been in much larger font to make it easier to read.

That all said, with something this important, it is very important to verbally review with the person who hands you the card and is responsible for the results.  Look at them and say, “USA, Colombia, and Philippines is the winner.”  You just practiced while also confirming the winner.

When reading the winners, read directly off the card or paper that you are given.  Unless you are absolutely sure what you are reading is correct–such as confirming verbally with someone–and you have to look at a camera, read it off the card.  Watch any awards show and you will see the presenters reading off the card.  Some have even put the winner’s name(s) on the Teleprompter that the presenters read their banter from.

One very big think that Harvey did in all of this was to hold himself accountable for his mistake.  Yes, it was on a large stage, but can you imagine the backlash had the award been given to the right person after the fact?  Harvey, for all the good that he does on his show and in real life, continued to show the kind of person he is by owning up to the mistake immediately.  That’s a lesson that extends further beyond just this show and the microphone.