In the beginning, the laurel-or-yanny clip said laurel and nothing but laurel. Here is the original version of the clip, recorded by an opera singer working for Vocabulary.com. Chances are, you'll hear it as laurel too. Let's compare it to the viral clip and we'll see exactly what changed, and why half of us hear the viral clip as yanny.

During last weekend's March for Our Lives, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Samantha Fuentes, a wounded survivor of the shooting tragedy, got on stage to give an impassioned speech to thousands of protesters. Halfway through her address, she ducked down behind the podium and vomited.

We all listened to Oprah's acceptance speech for the Cecil B. de Mille Award? Yes? Good. Did you notice how even though she's Oprah, and could probably make us cry by reading a takeaway menu backward, she put a ton of work into her speech? And how through that work, she took a celebration of her accomplishments, respected that premise, but turned it into a rallying cry for the forces of good? Next time you speak in public, would you like to be a little more like Oprah?

Grammar prescriptivists -- who believe rules should be followed; "descriptivists" believe correct grammar is whatever works -- love to appeal to logic. If "he could care less," then he could care less -- you have to say "he couldn't"! It's the rock we cling to against the rising tide of literally-means-figuratively-now. Well, it may be time to loosen that grip, because the evolutionary forces of language extremely do not care.

Here’s the scene: A sea of roaming eyeballs and some powerful fluorescent lights, all focused on you. Does this freak you out? If you’ve ever struggled with public speaking, this incredible infographic runs you through the ways you can prevent public speaking anxiety and ensure you’re giving presentations the audience will remember.

Actor and voice coach Amy Jo Jackson has consulted on productions of Venus in Fur, Henry IV, and the Broadway production of Kinky Boots. An experienced actor herself, whose credits include The Laramie Project, Into the Woods, Twelfth Night, and The Rocky Horror Show, Jackson teaches actors and non-actors how to reduce unwanted accents or gain desired ones. We talked to her about her process, the challenge of increasing intelligibility without devaluing diverse dialects and heritage, and resources outside of personal coaching.

We all fear speaking in front of people. Some of us are just better at squashing those anxieties -- probably by not following flimsy advice like, "Imagine everyone in the room naked." Instead, they prepare thoroughly and thoughtfully and learn what keeps people interested. Here's how you can, too.

Chrome/Windows/Mac/Linux: If you've ever had a phrase on the tip of your tongue, you probably took to Google to search for the right wording. Writefull does this work for you. It's a free, helps improve your writing, compares phrases, shows you how they're worded depending on the context and suggests synonyms.

When you're planning a public speech, you have your notes, slides and script in the hopes that everything will go right. It won't. Something is going to go wrong and if you expect it, you'll handle it better.

Web: Public speaking is a huge fear for many people. Speaking.io teaches you the basics for free, with simple do's and don'ts to ease your mind and craft an engaging speech.

If you, uh, have a tendency to use filler words like "um" or "like" when you talk, it's not the end of the world. Turns out they can actually be a good thing -- as long as you use them right.

Our English teachers told us to avoid the word "very" because it's weak and vague. They were right, and many times, we use "very" as a modifier for a word that could easily be replaced with a stronger, more accurate word. This infographic tells you what to use instead.

Earlier this year, Steven Spielberg gave the commencement speech for Harvard's graduating class. In it, the renowned filmmaker describes one key to being the hero of your own story: Listen to your intuition.

As the head of TED, Chris Anderson has listened to a lot of talks in his lifetime, and he's identified the one thing that makes a public talk truly spectacular. In his video, Anderson shares what that is and four tips you can implement to improve your own presentations and public talks.

Whether you're driving or you just want to be hands-free around the house, you can make your iOS device read anything from emails to websites to articles, and all it takes is turning on an Accessibility function.

iOS: Public speaking is always a bit terrifying, but one of the best ways to get over that is to prepare as much as possible. Ummo is an app that helps you prepare by analysing everything you say.

There are a handful of brand names out there that are commonly mispronounced. A lot of it has to do with a mistranslation between languages, but it's still interesting to learn which brands you might be saying incorrectly. This infographic lays them out.

Think back to the last time you heard someone give a speech by reading words directly off a card. How bored were you? If you want to avoid having the same effect on your own audience, practice your speech by having a conversation with someone about it.

There are a lot of great ways to calm your nerves before you step into the spotlight, but it might also help to refashion what you're feeling instead of trying to suppress it.