Season six of Revisionist History is coming later this spring. But meanwhile, season two of Pushkin’s great show Cautionary Tales is underway. Host Tim Harford brings us stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, daring heists and hilarious fiascos. In this episode: What are the risks of improvising a speech? One approach to public speaking is to memorize and get everything perfect, but risk seeming stilted and disconnected from your audience. Or you can try speaking off the cuff, sometimes resulting in disaster. As always with Cautionary Tales, there’s a twist. If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to Cautionary Tales wherever you get your podcasts. Read more about Tim's work at http://timharford.com/ To find more episodes of Cautionary Tales, go to https://www.pushkin.fm/show/cautionary-tales/ Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com