Feminine Voice and Movements

[Mackenzie]

I was wondering, how many of you are working on developing a feminine voice and movements?

It seems that many crossdressers do not have desire to "get out" in public, but are content to crossdress in the privacy of their homes, and that is fine.

But for those who want to be out and about, going shopping, travelling, etc., are you trying to pass fully as a girl, or are you just a guy in girl clothing, still retaining your male voice and movements?

I think that the two greatest give-aways are our masculine voices and movements. If we intend to pass fully as a female, we need to invest time and practice to develop our voices and movements to be like a girl.

So, the question for those of you who are really trying to pass fully as a girl, "What are you doing to develop your feminine voice and movements?"

Any advice and help that you offer could really benefit many of us.

Thanks!

Mackenzie

[LisaElizabeth]

It's the old story about 'How do you get to Carnegie Hall?'
Practice, PRACtice... PRACTICE!!!
You have to practice!! Watch all the ladies you come across on a daily basis, they have a walk, mannerisms, gestures, etc. All you have to do is mimic them!!
I recently watched a video of the making of a new album by the singer SADE.
She has a very deep voice for a girl!! I thought it was a male speaking at first!!
I know 2-3 women here in town that have deeper voices than I do. But they speak softer and hardly raise their voices, even when upset. I have copied what they do and over the years, it isn't perfect but works OK in most instances.
Hope this helps!
Lisa E
PS, I noticed you in the St. Louis area.... Go to the 'Galleria' and girl watch!! Also contact the St. Louis Gender Foundation. http://www.transgender.org/stlgf/ They are a great group of girls!! I don't get over to St. Louis often enough!!!

[StaceyJane]

I look at the videos of myself and see things to work on.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

paying money for tapes should be your last resort

Lisa's advice is great...

the only thing that paying money will get you is discipline (i spent the money, now i HAVE TO do something)...otherwise just woman watch and listen and practice...

[joann07]

Me, I take pride in looking my best and presenting myself appropriately as a woman. I am very detail oriented and pay careful attention to every single detail in how a woman presents and conducts herself because I like to get things right the first time. I learn by watching and practice, practice, practice.....what I observe. In my 3.5 years of crossdressing, I have learned a lot in the short time I've been doing this and so I've started to come up with my own tips and advice to help others.

One thing which I think is very important to passing, is developing your fashion sense. If you're content at dressing at home, or in the closet, then it doesn't matter what you wear, but if you want to go out in the general public, besides Halloween, then you have to know what clothes are appropriate to wear at a particular time and place, what's in style, how to mix and match, what age range you fit into, what clothes would look right on you (not assuming that what looks good on the supermodel will automatically look good on you), etc, etc, etc.
You wouldn't want to be caught at a mall on a Saturday wearing a cocktail dress. Why? Because everyone else is wearing casual clothes. It's things like this that, if you don't dress appropritately, you'll get read or spotted. Wherever I am, I am always observing what the GG's are wearing and picking up on fashion trends and making a mental note of what's in style during that particluar season. For example, when it's fall/winter, I tend to see women wearing boots more often. And during the spring and summer months, I see them wearing flip flops and sandals.

Another thing about passing that I always stress is to never overdo things because people will notice if something doesn't look or seem right.
For example, there are those who say that in order to walk female, you should walk with one foot in front of the other and shake those hips.
That's fine if you want to look hot and sexy on the cat-walk at a fashion show, or in a beauty pagent, but if you observe how a typical GG walks, she normally doesn't do that. Her walk and posteur isn't that much different than a guy. It's just those subtle tells or differences in her mannerisms that people's brains automatically pick up telling them that she's a female and so those are key things that one must pick up on. From a different perspective, there are guys who have that big man macho guy walk, but does the average Joe typically walk like that? Me, I most certainly don't. The macho guy and the walking with one foot in front are things that are way on the opposite ends of the spectrum and so to blend in you have to be close to the norm, by not over exaggerating.

With regards to femme voice, me, I know that my voice is not a 100% but my overall presentation and how I conduct myself more than compensates for it and so when I interact with ordinary everyday people they don't seem surprised when I talk to them.Before I used to be real hesitant to talk, but now I am so comfortable with my feminine self that, even though my voice is still a work in progress, I can speak without feeling nervous.

As I constantly observe women, I realize that there's more to it than just speaking softly and with a higher pitch or tone. There are GG's who have deep manly sounding voices, but we know she's not a guy. Why? Because, IMO, it's the difference overall in the way she talks. As guys, we typically talk in this continuous monotone deep voice pattern, but if you listen and watch carefully how women talk, yes they speak a little softer, but they also vary the tones and pitches of their voices, their choices of words are different, and they have a different pace and rhythm in the way they say things. In addition, women tend to gesture more with their hands, nod their heads, and show more facial expressions (i.e. smile) when they're speaking.

When a woman asks a question, says hello, orders food, talks on the phone, is having a pleasant conversation, or whatever, I am constantly picking up every tiny detail in what she does because I realize that I have to have a good understanding of the overall picture. Yes. One can have that perfectly soft pitched sounding voice, but if she doesn't combine that with those other things then people will automatically know she's a guy trying to disguise his voice as a female. I've got a pretty good handle on most of those things, but I'm still trying to find that right pitch or tone.

The same goes for how you eat, how you sit, how you dance, how you stand, how you sneeze, how you get excited, how you cough, how you drink from a cup or bottle, how you pose for a photo, how you shake hands with someone, etc, etc, etc. In other words, you basically have to do an about face and be a completely different person from your guy self, but you don't have to go to the extreme to feminize yourself.

If you can focus on a particular GG (i.e. friend, work colleague, etc.) and pay attention to every tiny detail in how she dresses, her mannerisms, walk, talk, etc, etc, etc..., study them, emulate her, and practice practice, practice....then you'll understand the big picture in how to sucessfully pass.

And once you've practiced it enough times, you'll be more confident in yourself, and you won't have to think about it because things will just come naturally. That is the point where I am today and I am having so much fun.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope this advice is helpful.

Hugs!

[Karen7cd]

I have been singing to the radio in my car en fem kind of...

[christine55]

Some of the most insignificant movements, which we are not even aware of will totally blow our cover. I've got a camera that I can set to take an exposure, say every minute, or every ten minutes, so that I get shots from all angles taken when I am not consciously posing. I can let the camera run for an hour or so, the male movements are so obvious. You would be surprised how many little giveaways there are. When you become aware of these things you can work to change these, movements, expressions etc. to a more femme you. I surely haven't got my femme voice down yet but am working on it mainly by singly along with GG singers. Tonight I watched a Fleetwood Mac Concert on DVD and as I have got a decent singing voice, I can work on getting that resonance that changes your voice to femme. Just did love singing and dancing along with Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie.
I also plan to get a vid camera on ebay. That will give me a so much better view.
Best Wishes
Hugs, Christine

[JaytoJillian]

Take note of EVERYTHING Joann said!

[Rianna Humble]

I hope this advice is helpful.

Very

[Persephone]

I hope this advice is helpful.

Brilliant! Great summary!

SI've got a camera that I can set to take an exposure, say every minute, or every ten minutes, so that I get shots from all angles taken when I am not consciously posing. I can let the camera run for an hour or so, the male movements are so obvious. You would be surprised how many little giveaways there are.

Can you tell us what kind of camera it is, Christine? That sounds interesting!

[t-girlxsophie]

I do try to present as feminine as I can,I don't pass but I want as much as possible people to say fair play,at least I'm making an effort to look good.I do practice walking,sitting etc but as far as the voice goes I don't see much point in putting one on,if I don't pass it Just comes across,in my opinion as parody

But if someone DOES pass then I can see the merits in Practicing to achieve a feminine voice

[Dee2U]

Graceful movement makes me feel more feminine, whether in drab or en femme so to me it is a critical part of the experience. As I have mentioned in many threads - if you have a fitness activity or hobby that builds on grace and fluidity of movement such as dance or yoga it will rub off in your general movement and give you the basic vocabulary for becoming more feminine in movement and posture. Sort of like a sport where it is easier to learn the subtleties of play by doing drills. It helps you to take the observations you make about feminine poise and grace and translate it into your own style of movement.

As far as voice is concerned, I havent really started working on it, although I regularly change my voicemail and enjoy giving it a more feminine tone and lilt....Dee

[christine55]

Brilliant! Great summary!



Can you tell us what kind of camera it is, Christine? That sounds interesting!

I use a Nikon d300. Lots of the better digital cameras have this feature, called an interval timer. I can set mine to take up to 999 images from one second apart to however long you want.
Hugs, Christine

[Lexine]

I found this thread very timely considering I was searching threads on how to develop a feminine voice and it's great that that someone brought this up!

Seeing as how I'm a bit of a perfectionist (it's a personality flaw that I'm trying to deal with), I can't just CD outside and speak in my current masculine voice or a variant of it, unless I'm hanging out with friends. I found two YouTube users that give a pretty good idea of how one should approach developing a female voice. I've added descriptions so that you know how each user is approaching it. Also remember, before viewing these videos, that constant and prolonged practice can damage your voice box, so you gotta give it a rest!

karmatic1110
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciWIzpW_X20
Charlotte breaks down voice feminization into four distinct steps. It's a good one to start with, but if you need more help I'd suggest moving onto Candi's videos.

CandiFLA
http://www.youtube.com/user/candiFLA
Candi has a series of videos just devoted to developing a female voice, which is why I linked straight to her profile (See her sidebar for which videos deal with this). Her methods are quite comprehensive and are both funny and informative.

In regards to female movements, I think posture and observation are two very important parts of this. You don't necessarily want to copy another girl's movements, just like you wouldn't want to accidentally copy your SO's voice and make it your own, but you want to assimilate characteristics that best represents you.

Of course, I'm not going to pretend that I know everything and I'm speaking based off of how much I've learned over the past few weeks (not even months, or years) so I hope I've helped even a little bit!

[TNRobin]

What Joann said is just perfect and quite timely for me. I try to observe what other women are doing, how they move or speak, but I tend to drift off into other things. A bit of ADD maybe...who knows.

One thing that I have definitely noticed is that women have a huge range of femininity. For example a good friend of mine has a sister that's about as butch as you can get right down to drinking with the guys and lighting her own farts; which is a bit odd for a woman in her mid-50s in my opinion, but it's an example of the far end of the spectrum and one that even in guy mode I don't turn to.

As for speaking and my voice, it's something that I've just started working on, so at the moment it's about as guy like as you can get, but I've really only been fully crossdressing for less than a year,. By that I mean all made up and going out. Before that it was just underdressing, no make-up ever. So I've got a long ways to go, but I'm working on it.