Speaking of the dour Julia Speech analyst Dean Frenkel says Julia Gillard seems to have been working on her voice, making it a weapon: Yet it appears that Ms Gillard has consciously decided to defiantly maintain her controversial accent and articulation patterns. Interestingly there has been no effort to refine them, which is probably a reflection of her personal values. The way she articulates may be a product of her union background or perhaps is her way of expressing her Australian pride. Which begs the question: does poor articulation make you more ""Australian""? Here are some of her articulation bloopers: "d's sound more like "dge's as in "ed (dj) ucation revolution"; "t's are expressed as "d's as in "bedder" (better), "ee's become "eryees," as in "berleryeeve" (believe) and "a's become "eyes" as in "Ostrylya" (Australia) â¦ Ms Gillard's most impressive speechmaking skills are her quick mind, memory, speech fluency and an ability to rarely stumble when she's talking... Some of Ms Gillard's values are detectable through her speech. She is very proud to be Australian. She wants to appear solid and grounded and is prepared to sacrifice colour from her delivery... . The dour demeanour is consistent with trying to project that she wants us to feel we are in safe hands. Tim Blair isn't sure about that "ability to rarely stumble when she's talking." Blair's list, with references supplied: Hyperbowl Tasmania Taliband Assification Taliband, again Tenant High dungeon Links at the link.