Do you try to feminize your voice when interacting en femme?

[Elizabeth G]

Hi All,

I was out last week fully dressed for the first time in years (I had a great time btw) and for the most part my interactions were with people I knew (shop owners at shops I frequent) so I didn't worry about my voice. However at one point I was approached by a stranger, a polite gentleman who was about my age or perhaps a few years older, and I had no choice but to speak with him.

It went well enough but I felt like since I was presenting as a woman I had to try to sound like one too the extent possible, I guess in my head, for safety reasons.

So, for those of you who go out, when you interact with strangers do you try to feminize your voice?

Thanks,
Beth

[bridget thronton]

I due not - I do find myself limiting my talking and trying to talk more softly but I M not skilled enough to pull off a fem voice

[BillieAnneJean]

I do feminize my voice and speak softly. Plus all the other visual attributes.

I LOVE going OUT enfemme in the general public.

SUCH FUN!
Billie

[karla2016]

I try my best however I know is not enough. Last trip to Vegas I was playing next to a woman for about fifteen minutes or so. She was in her business and I was in mine. Then my girlfriend approached me and asked me something, when I answered her the woman next to me almost put her eyes out their sockets watching at me, realizing I wasn't a GG.

[Cheryl T]

I try, but I don't always sound very feminine. I try to soften my voice, change the inflections and raise the tone.
I don't practice it, I just do it when needed in public though like most I try not to engage others unless it's necessary

[S. Lisa Smith]

I do and am told that I do sound like a woman. I don't sound like a woman to me, but I do alter my voice.

[Krisi]

I try not to put myself in a position where I have to interact with people because I don't go out often and don't get a lot of practice. Obviously, if someone passing on the street says "hello", it would be rude not to respond so I try to sound like a woman when I reply.

I'm sure I wouldn't be able to carry on an extended conversation as a woman. Again, not enough practice.

[Jenniferathome]

Not really. I try to raise the tone a little and eliminate the really deep tones, but I think it is worse to sound like minnie mouse.

[Micki_Finn]

I'm with Jennifer here, soften a little but I feel like straining my voice to create some bad charicature of a female voice feels more obvious than just going natural (and I've got a fairly deep voice to start with).

[aprilgirl]

Personally, I don't attempt a feminine voice, and just speak in quieter tones not to be overheard outside the conversation. I figure that I've given off plenty of visual clues to anyone who is close enough to interact with me. Kim

[Rachael Leigh]

The only thing I do is try and soften it a bit, I'm a soft talker anyway so I raise the pitch just a bit but doubt it sounds very
feminine

[Jane G]

No not at all. I do however get told of by my wife for talking like a girl when not dressed.

[Kandi Robbins]

Do I feminize my voice? While it's not deep, it is distinctly male and I really couldn't without sounding like Minnie Mouse.

Now I do try and speak a bit softer and use language a bit more feminine (like not using the f word as much!), but heck, I ain't fooling anyone. I've found being "me", open and honest, has worked well and made me much more easily accepted everywhere I go.

[Alice_2014_B]

Of all the times I have been out en femme I have only interacted with strangers one time, that was going to a comedy club to do stand-up on open-mic night.
I did not try to feminize my voice at all, from getting carded upon entry, doing my stand-up jokes, and leaving.
It is something I may practice though.
:)

[carhill2mn]

Yes, I do. Fortunately, my voice is not one that is extremely "male". I have learned and continue to practice feminine speaking patterns. I have also learned to not project my voice as I would if presenting as a man.

I received what I think was the ultimate compliment from a woman who is a friend of a woman friend of mine. I had spent at least 20 minutes in a one-on-one conversation with this woman. She knew that my friend was big supporter of CD/trans people. This woman asked my friend if I was the Carole that she sometimes met for dinner. My friend replied that yes, I was. This woman then said to my friend that "she" is a GG, right. My friend replied no, but she will be very pleased to hear that you think so. The woman then said that "she certainly has all of the mannerisms down pat".

[Lana Mae]

Not going out yet! I am however working on my feminine voice at home and at times in the car!! Practice makes perfect! Well I doubt I will ever achieve perfect but better. I feel I owe it to the public to try to match my voice with the image. Hugs Lana Mae

[Nicolesmyth]

I take the voice up just a notch. I know I don't fool anybody, but it seems a little easier for folks to interact with me if I am trying to present myself as a lady. Of course I don't go into the high pitched realm, because even that makes me giggle.:laughing:

[Kelly Whelan]

I adjust my voice slightly. It's a bit like overall deportment. You walk differently when dressed so you talk differently when dressed.

There are loads of videos on YouTube by those who have cultivated a very convincing female voice. The basic principle is that it mainly about reducing chest resonance. Raise your larynx but not necessarily the pitch and then give your voice that more undulating female pattern. My voice is naturally a bit clipped in this regard so I just push it a little further. I've passed over the phone when I just wanted to show off to friends that I could do it. But face to face you have to decide whether it makes enough difference to be worth the effort. I think the trick is not to sound like you're making to much effort. It's a bit like trying to pass physically, it should be more or less in step with your overall level of appearance.

[Tracii G]

I use my regular voice just soften it a little.
Feminine mannerisms actually help too.

[Kate Simmons]

Never have, never will. :)

[Genny B]

When dressed I try to use just my head voice vice a voice from the chest when in drab. Something I picked up from a sister and it does help!

Genny B

[Lexi_83]

Not really. I try to raise the tone a little and eliminate the really deep tones, but I think it is worse to sound like minnie mouse.Lol.
Best I can manage is a whisper.

[ellbee]

I talk in my deepest, manliest voice possible -- just to really freak 'em out. :D


Actually, I don't do that, LOL.

Though I think the absolute worst is to try to fake a female voice, having it come out as some kind of falsetto or something. In which case, you're way better off just "softening" your regular male voice a bit, and leave it at that.

[Pat]

I love to talk to people when I'm out and about. Generally I keep my pitch a step or two higher than my "FM announcer" male voice, but not especially higher. The biggest thing I try to do is keep the resonance out of my chest by keeping my voice in the mask area. But if I get into a long convo I'm going to forget at some point. I just accept that's me. Usually by then the focus has shifted from me to the conversation so I'm not too worried about spoiling my look. ;)

[Jilmac]

My natural voice is baritone but I can raise it to tenor when en femme, and it sounds passable because there are a lot of females with tenor, and very male sounding voices that have been mistaken for male just from the way they talk. Tenor works fine for me and doesn;t sound fake.

[Ceera]

Absolutely! As Ceera I virtually never use the same voice in public that I use as my male identity. I do it well enough that a lot of strangers have talked to me extensively and not realized I wasn't born a girl.

Within minutes of putting on my makeup and wig, my voice shifts up about half an octave to an octave higher, and becomes softer and more feminine. The way I phrase things and the tempo and modulation of my voice is also carefully different in female mode, mimicking the speech patterns of women I know well. I don't even have to think about it any more. It tends to stick that way for half an hour or more after I dress down again to male mode, too.

I spent three months watching you-tube videos and studying audio and video course materials on how to feminize a male voice, before I ever tried to go out en-femme at all. To me, having a feminine voice is as much a part of my presentation as my wigs or my breast forms. I've been asked when out en-femme to allow my friends who know I'm transgender to hear my 'guy voice', and it's actually getting difficult for me to do it any more. When I do, they can hardly believe that voice came out of me. As a male, I sing base to tenor. But Ceera's voice is a definite soprano.

I realized that a lot of MtF drag performers and CD's don't bother to change their voices. And that's fine, if that is how they want to present to the world. But to me, speaking in a male voice while trying to appear feminine is as jarring a disruption as a Shakespearean actor performing in Hamlet or some other period play stopping in mid-performance and answering his cell phone, in a New York accent! My goal when I go out is to be the woman that I feel is a part of me, and to be accepted as that woman, to the extent that I can manage it. I can't do that if I speak, and people are looking around to see where the burly football player is hiding, behind that pretty girl.

[Heidi Stevens]

For some of us, Elizabeth, being transgendered means we really try to sound as female as we can. Success is another matter, it's different for every one of us. Speaking for me, yes I try to speak as female as possible when out as Heidi. I got lucky as my natural voice was already in a higher male range. I also learned that if I stay in the upper half of my voice range, I can present a very believable female voice. It really works over the phone, I got misgendered three times last week on the phone when I wasn't trying to present as Heidi.

[FrannGurl]

I tend to be very aware of how my voice sounds when presenting as a female, especially when talking on the phone to men that are interested in dating me that I am getting to know. Most times, it comes naturally, but other times, I have to work at it.

[TrishaLake]

I tried and quit lol! Instead I speak softly at least...which does not do the trick

[michelleddg]

Of course. As for many others, trying and succeeding are not entirely in sync. However, I have a pet theory that if you're presenting well your voice is ultimately not that important. If you watch enough youtube video you see all sorts of drag queens who, when they speak, sound female but, if you close your eyes, they sound like a dude. Hugs, Michelle

[Elizabeth G]

Thank you all so much for all of the input and responses. That's why I love this forum - the collective knowledge and support her is very much appreciated.

Thanks again,
Beth

[Teresa]

Beth,
I don't change my voice at all, CDing isn't an act so I don't play at being a woman.
I've been going out to meet other members of the TG community since January and not one of them changes their voice, even TSs . They go out to relax and enjoy their CDing with other like minded people and aren't interested in putting themselves in a stressful situation with trying to use a false voice, it's impossible to keep it up for hours, unless you choose to say nothing.

[Krisi]

I'm beginning to realize that some of us are going out as crossdressers and some are going out as "women" (attempting to appear as women). Now if you go out in public as a crossdresser, there's no need to try to change your voice. On the other hand, if you are trying to pass as a woman, a female voice is just as important as a wig (or natural long hair), boobs and butt.

Personally, I would be in the second group so I would do the feminine voice as best I can.

[Jillian Faith]

When dressed and presenting en femme I attempt to speak in a voice that sounds feminine. Like some other girls I shift from my chest voice to my head voice. My wife assures me this creates a passable female voice.

[dolovewell]

When I first started going out in public I was pathetic, I avoided speaking when at all possible and when I did I tried the "cartoonish high pitched girly voice" approach that makes me cringe when I think about it. I probably wasn't passing anyway so who am I trying to fool with the Minnie Mouse voice?

Eventually I just started talking normally and things got much better. Women told me that my voice was gender neutral and passable for a woman anyway. I was able to have meaningful conversations when out en femme in public and no longer was scared away by speaking. Therefore my outing were much more fulfilling.

[jennifer0918]

Yes I try my best,but I practice days before also drinking coffee for me softens my voice.

[Teresa]

Krisi,
I don't know if you read my reply but as I said the TSs in my social group don't change their voice even after SRS, those on HRT don't try to put on a false voice even if the the hormones haven't affected a change. Many of us go out to satisfy an inner need, some are passable and some not so, we do not act women with a change of voice but we are accepted as TGs. The female partners and hotel staff probably wouldn't take us seriously if we put on a false voice and maybe acted camp with it, we are not performers in a stage act.

[Krisi]

Krisi,
I don't know if you read my reply but as I said the TSs in my social group don't change their voice even after SRS, those on HRT don't try to put on a false voice even if the the hormones haven't affected a change. Many of us go out to satisfy an inner need, some are passable and some not so, we do not act women with a change of voice but we are accepted as TGs. The female partners and hotel staff probably wouldn't take us seriously if we put on a false voice and maybe acted camp with it, we are not performers in a stage act.

I understand your post but I don't understand how it relates to mine. I only posted my observation and how I fit into one of the groups (of crossdressers). There was nothing in my post about TS.

[Teresa]

Krisi,
I see that now from the last line of your reply but you appear to be slightly confused about what most of us want to achieve when we go out, I know you go out but don't look for too much interaction from the replies you've made. As a group we chat normally about most subjects and that's also with the GG partners and the hotel staff .

[Krisi]

I'm not confused at all. You see something from your perspective, I see it from mine.

[Dana44]

I use my regular voice and soften it a bit also and it seems to work okay. I have head females who sound male and look so feminine that I had to look twice when at the nail shop last week. They were feminine and they talked quit a bit. It was nice to see and now I don't worry about my voice.

[Ressie]

I love it for those that pull it off perfectly, but they are usually deeply TS. Yet, I hate it when a fake voice comes out from someone that's well…. faking it.

I don't go out among the general public myself, but I believe in just being yourself. If you truly feel fem it will come out in your voice. But then, it might continue when your in male mode… yikes! That's what happens to me anyway.

[Genny B]

A couple weeks ago I was at an LGBT club and was having a great time. One of the great things about it was they had karoke and several sisters sang with their natural voice, as they should since they have great voices! It was a great site and a great time!

Genny B

[char GG]

Sometimes speaking softly is too soft - so those around you (waitstaff, sales people, etc) have to ask to have the question or comment repeated. Don't whisper unless the room is small and quiet. Don't whisper or speak softly into a restaurant drive-through speaker. This is just a suggestion - better to speak up rather than to have to repeat yourself.

[Marcelo]

I never need to because I only dress up for events like fun runs and charity events. I go out as a guy dressed as a cheerleader and I dress all the way with shaved legs, arms and armpits. I wear a nice budget wig and full makeup to the best of my ability but I never try to fool anyone and just about everyone loves it. I can even say that I'm a bit in demand and highly encouraged and applauded by some of the event organizers!

I keep it real - a guy dressed as a girl - and that works out really good for everyone.

Marcelo

[HollyGreene]

I raise the pitch of my voice very slightly, but not too much as I know it will sound false if I do. I speak more softly though.
If you listen to female voices, they are not always higher pitched than male voices. The difference is in the timbre or tone of the voice.

[Kendra Sue]

Don't have to diguise my voice on the phone. I am always being called mam on the phone

[Rachel Morley]

..... when you interact with strangers do you try to feminize your voice?
With strangers, yes, I do "try" to feminize my voice by raising it slightly, softening it slightly and try to reduce the masculine elements of it. If I'm with people who I know, like say at a TG support group then no I don't tend to do anything different than my normal voice, which thankfully is not very deep.

[Julogden]

I always did when I used to go out. I was assured by female friends that I sounded female, but I had my doubts. ;)