How much should you work on your voice?

[Magnolia88]

How much time did you spend perfecting your voice? I want to start practicing, but I don't want to overdo it and sound forced. I already get called ma'am just speaking in my normal voice when I'm on the phone or when I bring food to the customers at work before they look up and see what i look like. because of this, I'm almost wondering if I should change anything at all.

[Kelly-087]

I wouldn't work much on it..

I could probably pass undoutably easily if I worked on my voice.. Although its a work in progress.

[Jessica Merriman]

It never is a bad thing to be evaluated by a voice coach. They could give you tips of exercises and suggestions so you do not overdue it. If you pass now, that might not be the case later in life without consistency and practice. I will have to practice the rest of my life in one way or another and even then I still won't be happy about it. 

[pebbles]

It's until your comfortably I guess however I've found alot of people are just begin polite. Your voice is one of the hardest bits. I worked on it for ages non-stop for 6 months (Learning the Technique to sound female and not shrill) then still making slight changes for over a year an a half later. Pitch and timbre.

[Cindy]

Can I be a bit controversial?

You need to decide what you want. I transitioned when I was 59. No ability for stealth nothing. Very well known. I can't 'hide'.

So I decided to be a very natural woman with my voice, yes I have modified it but hey I lecture to Uni students, I can't change a public speaking voice without a lot of help and probably surgery.

So I didn't worry.

If I was young? Oh ye, FFS voice the lot. But now?

What is the use?

I get where I get by being me.

[kelly_aus]

I've done essentially nothing to my voice and as Cindy an atttest, it's not horrific.. I've also seen a speech therapist that gave it a good rating..

[vlmitchell]

Work on it to the point where you want. I 'worked' on mine by transitioning in a flash and so had to modify my presentation so fast as to not have time to think about it very much. Just to the record/playback thing every once in a while to check how you sound because you totally sound different than you do in your head.

[ganjina]

For me, it will be until I can hear a fully 99% girly girl female sounding voice when playing back myself to myself .

[vlmitchell]

In the voice subforum, there's a tutorial on PRAAT, which is the software you can use to measure your voice for 'femininity'.

[ThePhoenix]

Transition is like a buffet.  Just like a buffet, there are many different things you can take as a part of your transition and many things you can leave behind.  Just like a buffet, if you decide you want something that you left behind, you can go back and get it later.  And just like a buffet, the things people put on their plates for transition are different for everyone.

So I think the answer to the question in the topic (how long SHOULD one work on voice) is:  as long as they feel they need to. 

As shown by the answers to the question posed in the OP's text (how long DID people work on voice):  the answer varies widely from person to person depending on what they felt they wanted/needed.  For some the answer is: not at all.  For others the answer is: lots of long hours.  For me the answer is:  not applicable.

[Allyda]

For me it's going to take alot of work. I've heard there's a few websites that have tutorials on this? Unfortunately I just haven't done a search yet. However I do need to get started working on it.

[suzifrommd]

I dreaded working on my voice. I was sure I'd never get it right, since I'm kind of tone deaf and generally inept with kinesthetic stuff.

But it turned out to be easier than I thought.

Developing my feminine voice is far and a way the most worthwhile and successful part of my transition. Just hearing my sweet voice is enough to set aside a lot of doubts as to whether I'm the woman I want to be.

[Allyda]

I want to start working on mine but I need a clue of where to go website wise to get started.

[amber1964]

I always wanted privacy. If you dont have a female voice you will never have that. I quit my job and moved far away to start life fresh. Im still working on my voice, not much now, but took several years. It was the single hardest thing as my natural voice is a deep bass. I even pass on the phone almost all the time which is the ultimate test. But what a royal pain it was. Singing was a big help.

[stephaniec]

Can I be a bit controversial?

You need to decide what you want. I transitioned when I was 59. No ability for stealth nothing. Very well known. I can't 'hide'.

So I decided to be a very natural woman with my voice, yes I have modified it but hey I lecture to Uni students, I can't change a public speaking voice without a lot of help and probably surgery.

So I didn't worry.

If I was young? Oh ye, FFS voice the lot. But now?

What is the use?

I get where I get by being me.

I feel the same way . I'm some where around Cindy's age plus or minus 50 years. I just have fun trying it out with cashiers and sales people. I find the hormones give my vocal cords the flexibility  to experiment.

[Allyda]

I'm just looking for website tutorials. I know about you tube but I've heard there are others.

[Allyda]

Maybe I just need to wait longer for the hormones to help out a little?

[Miss_Bungle1991]

Maybe I just need to wait longer for the hormones to help out a little?

Hormones will have no effect whatsoever on your voice.

None. Zip. Zero.

Anyone that will tell you that they will is full of it.

The only way to improve your voice is to work, work again and work some more.

[Allyda]

Thats what I thought. Can anyone suggest a good website tutorial?

[Jill F]

I need more work apparently.  The good news is that it sounds female, the bad news is that it sounds like Bea Arthur. *le sigh*