Voice woes

[Rock_chick]

Surprisingly, this has nothing to do with my girl voice...that's fine, I'm slowly getting more comfortable with using it, though I still have to concentrate. No my current issue is this; my at work voice is definitely male and certainly lower in pitch than how i'm speaking normally now...problem is this now strains my vocal chords more than girl voice mode. 5 minutes of speaking in my work voice and I've got a sore throat. so i just sit there not saying anything...which despite being quite down and quite recently is annoying.

Can anyone recommend a valid excuse as to why I might start raising the pitch of my voice to something more comfortable without raising undue suspicion in my colleagues at work? Or should I just be like "yeah whatever" and not give a damn. My manager knows that I'm TS and starting my transition, but right now that's it.

[rejennyrated]

You might want to clear this with your manager first - but I think the truth is usually the best option. If you lie now people will remember it when the truth comes out in three of four months time and they may resent the fact that they were taken for "fools". (or at least that's what they may feel).

The great thing about it is that as you are intending to take things at a nice gentle pace, so by coming out well in advance people will have a load of time to get used to the idea before anything drastic happens - and it might even work out even better that way.

I was going to PM or phone you anyway about this cos I saw your mini-meh... but since you've posted...

[Janet_Girl]

When I came out at work I had been using my voice for about 2 weeks.  At the time I could slip in and out of the voices with ease.  Not now.  I have to think about the male voice to be able bring it up or down as the case maybe. 

[Rock_chick]

Good point Jenny, I wouldn't want to alienate people unnecessarily. I might just try the truth which is that If I speak in a lower pitch I strain my vocal chords in 5 seconds flat, but not actually say why that is.

If someone really pushed as to why this is happening I could re-evaluate and go from there. Hell, I'm going to have my eyebrows shaped a bit more next week...so it's not like people aren't going to notice things.

The whole voice thing has been annoying though, I've felt a hell of a lot more positive today, but I've not felt comfortable using the voice everyone is used to me using.

[Randi]

Go ahead and use the voice that is most comfortable for you. Everyone else will get used to it soon enough. If you are good at controlling pitch you could start a little at a time if you are not comfortable with an abrupt change.