voice when going out en femme

[kev.wong140]

Does anyone use their original voice when going out en femme?

[BillieJoEllen]

Lately I haven't been able to get out much en femme but when I do I try to avoid speaking opportunities. If I absolutely can't then I speak very softly.

[kimdl93]

I have. But I usually attempt to soften and raise my voice to a more feminine level. Its not easy and I'm consistent. So, I'm working with the "EVA" voice app on my ipad. So far, I have gained better pitch control. Still a lot to improve upon!

[rachaelsloane]

Always use my normal voice as it has worked so far and have no plans on changing.
Depending on my travel schedule, I'm out 1 or 2 nights a week in SF and have had the most interesting
conversations with people I meet and don't believe they have cared about my voice.

[Kimberly Renee]

oohhh - didn't know about the EVA app. any other reviews?

I've been thinking about trying a quasi british accent to jump start a voice transition. any thoughts about that?

[Adriana Moretti]

i am fortunate enough to have no bass in my everyday voice...and if I put on my "polite voice" it sounds like a womans..I get mistaken for a women on the phone all the time. Some people have it...some dont....for me it works well in this situation...but not so hot in guy mode...I have to deepen my voice just to hang with the guys.

[Nadine Spirit]

I basically just use my regular voice. I do try and soften it up a bit I suppose.

[Rachelakld]

Often, especially with family or good friends. I do try to girlie it up for strangers, in the hope of giving a better first impression

[Katey888]

I've been thinking about trying a quasi british accent to jump start a voice transition. any thoughts about that?

Careful with the quasi, Kimberley.... (Just kidding :)) - Y'all over that side of the pond might have some luck trying for a posh New England accent - just don't try cockney - Dick van Dyke buried that one in Mary Poppins... :bonk:

Come to think of it, though, Julie Andrews <obviously> had a great voice and a good accent too. I've been practising on my own in the car (I'll bet others do this...) and I'm trying to culture a similar approach, except I'm going more for Kristin Scott-Thomas who most will know from 'The Horse Whisperer', but more recently 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen' where she still has the accent, but is cussing like a trooper - and I quite like that: posh bird angry - that could be me...

There are plenty of US-originated voice feminisation training vids on good old YouTube, so take a look there...

I figure as long as I can say "I'll have a chardonnay and that's a large glass, please.... thank you..." that should get me by initially... :devil:

Katey x

[kev.wong140]

If you keep your voice and just raise it a little bit, others will know you are a crossdresser, right?

[Brea Lynn]

This is something I have been working on myself, and yes, if all you do is just "raise your voice" (ie, go falsetto), it's pretty obvious you don't normally speak that way. I found a video on YT from someone who's transitioning and going to a voice coach. She talks about how it's not so much the pitch, but the resonance of your voice, and how your larynx is used. I'm lucky in that I've always been able to do 'voices' at will, it just takes a little bit of practice. If you can sing, I think it's much easier to change your voice to how you want it because you're already used to working your vocal cords and adjusting tone/pitch/etc. Like Katey mentioned, I too practice in my car to and from work. I just need to figure out how to record it such that I can hear it played back to know if I'm doing it really right, or if I'm only forming bad habits to break later :P.

[Beverley Sims]

It's always my voice, just softer, huskier and sexier. :)

Don't really know about the last, I have never asked an opinion.

[ericafremont]

Yes, always.

[Marcelle]

I don't use my normal "guy" voice when out "en femme" I do tend to use a more softened version though. However, I have way to many tells to worry about being read by my voice. Still, I use a more feminine voice as it helps me relax and take on the Isha persona. My one advice . . . don't do the Mickey Mouse falsetto voice as it does tend to sound a bit silly. Just soften your tone (bring your speech higher into your throat) and make it more melodic with emphasis and intonation vice the typical guy "point and shoot approach to speaking".

Hugs

Isha

[Kristy 56]

Yes,because unfortunately I can't pull off a femme voice.

[Sallee]

I just talk normally I try to be softer but I don't think it works. Actually I think people hear what they see So if you pass ok and are confident I don't think most would notice but of course all bets are off in a gay or TG establishment. I have never been called on my voice but I guess it could happen

[Sheila11]

When I first went out years ago I thought I had to drastically alter my voice. What I ended up with was a high pitched, falsetto, barely understandable, other worldly utterance. I recorded myself a couple of times and realized it was more ET-like than lady-like. Now I soften down a bit and raise by only a few notes. When I am around people I have become familiar with I think that change even goes away.

[lauren_m]

I definitely don't use my everyday voice when I'm out in public as Lauren, but I don't use my not-yet-ready-for-prime-time feminine voice, either. I do "soften" my voice and attempt to work on inflections and the like, but don't really raise my pitch in public. I'm pretty sure that the results aren't "passable" in most instances, but the same goes for my physical appearance as Lauren, anyway. But hey, I'm working on both of those aspects of my presentation! :)

[Ivy Lee]

i soften my voice a little but my voice isnt too deep to begin with. I found that before i was making it too exaggerated and it was very quiet and too overdone

[Eryn]

Like many here, I try to soften and raise my pitch a bit. I also try to resonate in my nasal cavity rather than my chest. I've done it enough that I tend to use that voice any time that I am dressed.

I try to keep it subtle because a big lady like myself wouldn't be expected to have a high voice.

Feminine speech patterns are also different, almost like singing. Someday I'll get that right too. More practice required.

[Wildruler]

This is what has stopped me from going out em femme. I feel like I must perfect my feminine voice or else I'll be discovered and persecuted. Hopefully one day I'll bebrave enough to travel out en femme.

[Cheryl T]

I do sometimes, but mostly I try to soften it a bit and raise the pitch slightly but not to a falsetto.

[Kate Simmons]

My voice is pretty much the same albeit somewhat softer perhaps en femme. :battingeyelashes::)

[Lexi Moralas]

I always tried to raise the pitch a little and soften the tone. But my voice got me read every time I opened my mouth lol

[BeckyAnderson]

I go out every chance I can get, anywhere I can and have never tried to conceal my true voice (which is rather deep). I'm confident in who I am and I find that the people I interact with actually go away feeling a bit more comfortable with the concept of crossdressing. I don't know......I guess they are able to see through the external shell and connect with the person inside. Beats me :-)

[Joanncdnj]

I tend to soften it up and smile a lot more than talking.

[dana digs sweaters]

Well it is a choice of Patty or Selma Bouvier for me

[Diane Edwards]

I always use my femme voice when I'm dressed. It helps that my male voice is rather high pitched to begin with. It took some time to eliminate the bass elements in my voice and to change the pronunciation of some phonemes to make my voice entirely feminine. About the only time my male voice leaks through is when I have a cold and my voice control goes awry.

[Krisi]

If you can pass as a female, I think it would be best to either not speak or work on a female voice. That is, of course, unless you want to shock people or just don't care. I've only been out a couple of times and my only speaking was when someone said "good morning" or such to me. I did my best to reply back in a female voice. It's something I need to work on.

[SheriM]

If you can pass as a female, I think it would be best to either not speak or work on a female voice. That is, of course, unless you want to shock people or just don't care. I've only been out a couple of times and my only speaking was when someone said "good morning" or such to me. I did my best to reply back in a female voice. It's something I need to work on.

I also soften it a little but only to make it a little more realistic. If someone looks at me, I don't really pass, even though I'm wearing a knee length skirt, a feminine sweater, nigh heels, and all the underpinnings. Maybe realistic is the wrong word; with being dressed as a woman, people don't expect a male voice and so I try to soften it even though it is still a man's voice.

SheriM

[Helen_Highwater]

oohhh - didn't know about the EVA app. any other reviews?

I've been thinking about trying a quasi british accent to jump start a voice transition. any thoughts about that?

Be very careful, you could end up sounding like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins, cor blimey love a duck; oh how we Brits laugh! Still I'm sure there are classic Brits doing a US accent badly.

You may be better off finding a friend who has an accent that you can use as a basis for creating a new voice. That way you have a template to compare with.

[Chickhe]

Just smiling, nodding and pointing works...

[SierraTsuki]

I can do decent feminine voice and I'm working on it so that's usually what I go with.

[Princess Grandpa]

I use my regular voice. I have a pretty deep bass. But it's not like anyone thinks I'm a woman and then my voice gives me away. I suppose in the dark from a great distance maybe I pass as a real ugly woman. lol. We have discussed if my presentation improves enough that I am actually passable, maybe we would learn ASL and she could interpret for me.

Hug
Rita

[CynthiaD]

I have a bass voice which I raise several pitches when I'm out en femme. I feel that it would be disrespectful of femininity to use my bass voice in female mode. I'm not criticizing, mind you. If you want to use your male voice in female mode, go right ahead. But for myself, I would prefer not to.

[Tracii G]

I soften my regular voice and try to speak from the top of my voice box.
Learned that on You Tube and it seems to work pretty well.
Trying to raise the pitch to much and you will sound like Mickey Mouse.
Deff don't do the OMG and Oh GF lines out in public.

[kev.wong140]

Falsetto may make you sound weird. I'm not even going to go there. I tried to raise my voice, but my voice still seems very low. If my appearance passes as a girl (hopefully this is sometime soon), I would still avoid interaction until I have my voice straightened out.

[Shellycd12]

I tried to always speak in a soft spoken low voice when out en femme.

Hugs, Shelly

[annaaustintx]

Falsetto may make you sound weird. I'm not even going to go there. I tried to raise my voice, but my voice still seems very low. If my appearance passes as a girl (hopefully this is sometime soon), I would still avoid interaction until I have my voice straightened out.Here are a bunch of videos on training your voice to be more feminine. Interestingly, one of the exercises is to speak in a falsetto.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbaj4tIX1kw&list=PLDEE21E31322DA699&index=1

[annaaustintx]

I've only been out a couple of times and my only speaking was when someone said "good morning" or such to me. I did my best to reply back in a female voice. It's something I need to work on.That's exactly how I started many years ago. Through trying to use my femme voice in "friendly" environments (support groups, around GLBT people etc.), I got a lot better, to the point that now my voice is a non-issue. That I like to sing and regularly sing heartily (my wife's term!) in church probably helps a lot as well.

[Richelle]

I just use my regular voice. If I try and change then sooner or later I will spill up and give it away. This is especially true when in an airplane for four hours. If my voice gave me away, she never indicated it.

Richelle

[Launa]

I always use my male voice, I'm not here to fool anybody.

If someone ever looks at me like they're in total shock I say no shit, I had you fooled? Its only happened with a couple drunk folks and a few other people in hotel lobby's that were staring at me at check in times.

[Beverley Sims]

In a limited capacity, I usually adopt a husky quiet voice.

[ShelbyDawn]

I went out for the first time last night and to be honest, I was so relaxed, I never thought to alter my voice and I have one of those 1970's FM radio announcer voices.
I don't think it mattered at all.

Oh, I do think there is a difference though in your intentions.
If you are actually trying to pass, then your voice would be more of an issue.
Like so many others here, I dress because it is part of who I am and not because I have any hope of passing so my voice is not as much of an issue.

Best advice, is just get out there and go for it.

:hugs:

Shelby

[suchacutie]

For me, Tina just can't use a male voice. She doesn't feel comfortable sharing anything with the male side of me. Voice goes along with that.

But more importantly, changing voice also means changing word usage, changing sentence inflection, and once that bass part of the voice is gone the whole process of putting across an emotion with words has to change. Once you've experienced that process and made it a part of the feminine self, it's almost impossible to go back to using the male voice in femme mode, at least in my experience.

For sure, when we first found Tina there was only one voice, but my wife says that even without changing voice conciously, there was a softening of voice usage right from the first time that I had completely transformed visually.