The "voice"

[Theresa(TGirl)]

How do yall girls deal with your voices?
Cause the worst thing ever would be to look and feel perfect, then the instant you say something, bam, your read as a guy, cause of the fact that your voice is that of a guy's. Does anyone have a good link?

PS, I'm not talking about that one that has the "order my program" things on it either

[Adrienne Heels]

I try to speak more softly than I do as a guy and use a feminine inflection in my speech, as well as femme words. The most important thing is to be confident.

[Theresa(TGirl)]

I try to speak more softly than I do as a guy and use a feminine inflection in my speech, as well as femme words. The most important thing is to be confident.

Yeah, all the sites I've found mention "finding the lowest falsetto" or similar stuff like that, and all that does is confuse people. Jeez, are you trying to help someone with your site or push them away? So all you do is "soften" your voice and use a vocabulary and styling of speech that is more feminine?

[Stephanie Kay]

I agree with Karyn 100%. I do the same thing. If you listen closely you will hear some women with quite low voices. Try to emulate them. But don't get too bent out of shape. Have fun! I kinda enjoy it when I leave people guessing .

[Theresa(TGirl)]

I agree with Karyn 100%. I do the same thing. If you listen closely you will hear some women with quite low voices. Try to emulate them. But don't get too bent out of shape. Have fun! I kinda enjoy it when I leave people guessing .

Yeah, this one girl who's in one of my classes (im in high school still, can't wait til graduation) doesn't seem to talk much higher than me when im on my "higher" days (some days i seem to talk lower than others, might be just average young age tendencies)

[Glenda58]

I was told to listen to songs of female singers. Then try singing with them and try to inmate their voice. Remember some female singers have a husky voice that some think is sexy like CHER

[Joy Carter]

I notice women tend to draw a word out and men shorten them. Particularly at the end of a sentence. But that is a good idea just engage different women in conversation and notice their pattern of speech.

[GG Vanya]

I don't really feel that having a deep voice is the ultimate giveaway. I have a *very* low voice, as can be witnessed by the person who called me to verify that I'm female before I joined the GG forum.

I think if you stay in the gender you are presenting and portray confidence the voice might give them reason to pause, but certainly isn't the "OMG that's a man in a dress" clue.

I think if you try to fake a femme voice it would be more telling than just simply softening your own voice.

[Jammie Lyann]

I also have been useing a tape I practice while driving to work an back home,
we will see how well I have done sence saturday is my first outting

[Francesca Chantel]

Huh? Francesca is deaf...

I have big hands though, so that's a drawback.......

[Kristen Kelly]

I also have been useing a tape I practice while driving to work an back home,
we will see how well I have done sence saturday is my first outting

[SIZE="3"]Dawn you go for it, relax and enjoy your time out, that first step out is the hardest, took that step many times in the past , and I am still pushing that line. Dont forget to tell us how it goes.[/SIZE]

[Kate Simmons]

Once again , it's HOW you say things not what you sound like so much. For some strange reason, my voice automatically softens when I'm Ericka. Listen to women when they talk and hear the way they pronounce things and the phrases they use. I know many genetic women who's voices sound like truck drivers (not picking on anyone here) but there is no doubt in my mind they are women due to the WAY they talk. I never speak any differently as far as tone inflection when I'm Ericka than I do as Richard yet there have been times people have honestly thought I was a GG until I told them differently due to the WAY I talk as Ericka. It takes practice and insight and is more or less "second nature" to me now. Ericka/Rich

[Sally24]

To start with, you should get a tape recorder or small dictation machine. Listen to yourself and practice, practice, practice. If you're really serious, you probably will have to buy a cd or dvd for instruction. There's nothing like hearing what you need to do! Otherwise it's sort of like describing the color blue to someone who is color blind. I've been doing the Andrea James DVD and I think it does some good if you really work at it.

Sally

[Daizy Chains]

I also have been useing a tape I practice while driving to work an back home,
we will see how well I have done sence saturday is my first outting

Good luck and best wish's

[Paula Thomas]

Terri - As Sally said (wrote) "To start with, you should get a tape recorder or small dictation machine. Listen to yourself and practice, practice, practice."

The sound of your voice as YOU hear it is different from the sound of your voice as OTHERS hear it.

That is because a part of hearing your own voice is direct vibrations to the inner ear ( see http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_...171_2/Ear.html "...people hear their own voice partly by bone conduction. The voice causes the bones of the skull to vibrate, and these vibrations directly stimulate the sound-sensitive cells of the inner ear..."), rather than just the part of your voice that reaches another person's ear drum.

So, practice speaking into a recorder and playing that back and this will let you know better how your voice sounds to others (depending on the quality of the recorder).

[Modesty Blaise]

Some helpful advice I came across was that you should aim to speak above the G below middle C. This is apparently the aproximate cut off for the perception of a feminine voice. It is usually the top end of the male range but BELOW the change over to falsetto. Also it suggested speaking into a guitar tuner that tells you the note it is receiving, although I can't remember the frequency in Hz. As a Physicist and gurillera pianist (appearing from nowhere to wreak dispair with the instrument) I found this very helpful!
Best Modesty

[JoAnnDallas]

At Holiday Enfem 2006, we had a speach clinic there. They work with TS's who are transistion, to help them develope a natural fem voice. They said the goal is to be reconized as female over the telephone. If you can do that, then you have fem voice. He said that there are some programs that you can buy that will help you shift your voice upward to around 180-200 HZ range. This is the low end of the female range and the high end of the male range. Their data shows that 60% of women are in or near this range. One of the programs that is availible will display a blue line on the computer screen. The object is to train you voice to stay above the blue line. You start with just sounds, then words, then phases, until your voice stays above the blue line all the time. He said that the hard part is speaking away from the computer. He has patients that do great as long as they are in front of the computer, but take away the computer and thier voice reverts back to male.
Average time for a TS is 6-9 months of constant practice.

[Theresa(TGirl)]

...
Average time for a TS is 6-9 months of constant practice.

I did see that on a site, that it took someone about 6 months to develop the range and another 6 months to develop the volume neccesary to be able to speak.

[Lisa Golightly]

Never hid my voice... I kind of enjoy f' me it's a bloke/thing/something look of consternation.

[JoAnnDallas]

The funny thing about Holiday Enfemm 2006, almost no one used a fem voice.

[Adrienne Heels]

Yeah, all the sites I've found mention "finding the lowest falsetto" or similar stuff like that, and all that does is confuse people. Jeez, are you trying to help someone with your site or push them away? So all you do is "soften" your voice and use a vocabulary and styling of speech that is more feminine?

Yes, that is it. It is more natural for you to just speak more softly than to try to make up a fake voice. Vanya is right when she says a fake voice is a giveaway. And like Joy said, try to model your speech after the way GGs you chat with speak.

[plastiqgirl]

the voice is something I sometimes worried about as well. The thing for me is, I am a singer. Singing is what I want to do with my life; it's how I intend to live. I am very confident in my voice as a man, but when it came to singing as a woman, I was pretty damn scared. If you have the money and time for it, I'd suggest a vocal/speech coach. They can work with you on feminizing the voice. I personally didn't feel it was neccessary, as I have lots of training in voice and figured out what is the best way for me. It's important that however you go about it be comfortable and easy to maintain for however long you are going to be talking en femme. I definitely reccomend buying a tape recorder and just havign fun. It's all about trial and error. It takes a while but eventually you'll figure it out. Look at me- a few months ago I was shaking in my boots and now I'm working on an album-as a GIRL! It feels fab! Good Luck

ps-For me, the best way to do it is to soften the voice by adding lots of air, placing it in the resonator that is sort of behind the ears-in the back of the lower jaw, and believe it or not I try and think about saying everything as thought it were a question. Not by actually ASKING everything, persay, or even inflecting upwards at the end of all my sentences, but by keeping a gentle, inquisitive, young sort of sound to it...maybe naive, even?

[Modesty Blaise]

Amazing look there Plastiqgirl! I wish I'd realised who I was at nineteen (can't find wistfull looking smilie)
Best regs
Modesty
I can't find an MB picture that doesn't look seventies

[bgirl]

I tried using a tape recorder once and just sounded like a bunch of different guys. The tape doesn't lie to me as nicely as a mirror does. And the mirror only fools me.

[Vash]

You know I do a great impersonation of the Queen of England, so if I need a "voice" I will always throw out an English accent. If any one has ever heard Christine McVie(Fleetwood Mac) speak, she has a VERY DEEP voice, albeit very sexy, and yet you would not think for a moment that you were talking to a man.