Help With Feminine Speech Needed

[Natasha_C]

Hi everyone.

I've been reading through the posts but could really do with help for developing a female voice. I have tried some online resources but they make it look so easy, however I know its all about keep practicing.

I wondered has anyone tried the Kathe Perez speech course. I was about to buy it this morning but it is rather expensive...

http://www.voicefeminization.com/beyond.html

And would anyone have any NHS notes or any resources they would like to share, as I have materials I could exchange with too.

I do hope you can help.

[Frances]

In my opinion, the most important aspect is reducing resonance. All these courses have helpful tips, but you can pick female speach patterns from being around women, the way young girls learn to do it. You do not need to spend any money to cut the chest resonance, and it cannot really be taught in my opinion. YouTube has plenty of people showing tricks to develop a feminine voice. Check out CandiFLA.

[Stephenie S]

The easiest way to work on your voice is just to DO it. As long as you have the luxury of slipping back into your easy "guy" voice, you will have trouble with your speech. Go full time. Then you HAVE to use your female voice all the time.

As Frances has already pointed out, getting the male resonence out of your voice is most important. You have to get your voice UP and OUT of your chest. You need to use you head and mouth as a resonate chamber instead of your chest. This is not as hard as it may sound. But you have to PRACTICE all the time. That's why I say that going full time is important. That way you CAN'T slip back into your lazy "guy" voice 'cause you aren't a guy any more.

After that it's pretty much up to you. Women's voices are all over the map, from high and squeaky to low and sultry and everywhere in between. You can talk any way you want. Just get your voice out of your chest, put a little musicality in your speech, tone down the harsh words, ask more questions. Be polite. Say, "I think I would like to go to the store," instead of, "I'm goin' t' the store."

I don't have the time to give you a lesson on speech here, but after what has been said already, there is not much left for you to do but to do it. Understand that women's voices often sound silly. You are gonna have to be willing to sound silly to your own ears. Remember that NO ONE you meet knows what you sounded like as a guy. Your new voice is as new to them as it is to you. You're just gonna be that new women who talks funny. So do many women. (Talk funny, I mean)

Stephie

[CharleneT]

add to the above that women's speech is as much about how words are used as it is about tone. "Intonation" is very important also. If you can't find a reasonably priced speech therapist, you can sit and listen, and then practice. I agree completely with Stephenie about practice, ya gotta .... use a tape recorder at first. While that can be a harsh reality, it can also help a LOT.

[subaru_forster]

If you can't afford her courses, her Compact Disk set is really good.

It takes a lot of practice, and resonance means the difference between sounding like a female impersonator and sounding like a female.

A frequency tuner is good for training pitch. If you have an iPhone/iPod touch, there's a good $3 app called Cleartune for that. Otherwise you can find them for $20. Aim for 220 hz (A3).

Practice practice practice!

[Hope]

Let me agree with all of the above - and further add that the voice is controlled by two sets of muscles, one set for higher pitch, and one set for lower pitch. For guys, the muscles controlling the lower pitch range are dominant, and much stronger, because they are used more often. This is why boys voices "crack" in adolescence - as the adams apple develops it sets us up to use the deeper set of muscles, but because they have never really been used before, they are week and puny and occasionally get over powered by the much stronger muscles for the higher pitch. Over time of course we stop using those higher pitched voices, and consequently also stop using the muscles that control that range as much - and so like any muscle they atrophy.

This is why practice is so important. You have to build up the muscles controlling the higher pitches, and just like with any other set of muscles you have - the only way to do that is with exercise.

[Natasha_C]

Thank you all so much for your help. I am so grateful.

I do practice a lot but it is very difficult. It is like what Stephenie said about how it sounds silly to your own ears. I dont like what I am hearing and want to improve so much.

I have seen Candifla and she is a role model to me as I strive to one day sound as natural as her.

I am really grateful for all your help. I shall indeed keep practicing and hopefully will gradually improve.

[bianca66]

I wouldn't spend alot of money...It's about practice.

I like this gal as she shows the difference in both her voices...For me it was about learning to talking from the upper part of my throat and not using my adams apple as much...Took me awhile till I could talk longer than 5 minutes without straining anything.

Candifla: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=DEE21E31322DA699&search_query=candiFLA

[Stephenie S]

May I add to this that the people like Candifla you see on utube and other sites are extremely vocally talented. I would not try to emulate them. Being able to switch back and forth is a REAL talent. If you can do this, good for you, but not many of us can. I certainly can't. I think it would be a waste of time. Switching back and forth is VERY hard and very confusing. That's why I advised going full time. If you can't go full time yet then go full time vocally. You will just be that guy who speaks like a girl. So?

You have to PRACTICE ALL THE TIME. From the first sound in the morning till your last at night, you have to sound feminine. Being able to slip back into your easy, lazy, "guy" voice will be problematic at best. Don't do it.

I will repeat that you have to be willing to sound silly to yourself. Of course you will for a while. But as I said before, many women's voices sound silly. Listen to Grace's assistant on the "Will and Grace" television show. Silly? Yes. Feminine? Yes.

Stephie

[Natasha_C]

Thank you again Stephie for great advice. I've watched videos on You Tube of girls saying how they mastered their female voice in just a few hours, but I've been told this is only possible if you are very good at impressions. Otherwise it is a long difficult road with practice needed all the time.

If anyone reading this does however have any recommendations of weblinks or materials on the wwb they have found useful to help with this I would still be so grateful.

[CharleneT]

You might consider trying to find a speech therapist in your area who could help. Vids and watching you tube etc can only get you so far. If there is a training school nearby you can often get a very low rate for being the patient of their students. I'm working with a group of grad students here for example. They charge me almost nothing for very good help !