What do you or have you used to remind yourself to use your 'girl voice'?

I transitioned 6 years ago and immediately went through voice therapy and within 6 months I was using it without thinking.

On the phone I sound great, when I start conversations, I sound great. And don't get me wrong, I don't sound 'male' BUT when my voice drops, it is a little more androgynous sounding instead of feminine.

And maybe it's also just as the years have worn on and I've hung out with my husband a lot, I've gotten lazy? I am not sure.

Over the years however, I've noticed it drops a bunch when:
- I get into technical details of something
- I get upset / angry
- I express sadness or empathy of sadness with friends


I go through phases where I remember and I'll kick it up a notch but then I quickly forget again and it drives me nuts. I feel like I just need a reminder of some sort but I'm not sure what will work.

What have you all used as a 'reminder' to bump that voice up or use your 'girl' voice / true voice, whatever you want to call it? Or what other things have you tried?

Wow ok I guess I'm alone in this.

I did have a little bit of a revelation yesterday though. It was the simple mantra: "Think before you speak".

Obvious I know but a lot of the time, I react to people in conversations and in general I need to pause a moment before responding....if I can remind myself to do that, then maybe it'll be a start as to how to respond with the right voice, etc.

I read your first post, but I've only been using my female voice for a few months, not 6 years like you, so I didn't think I was qualified to respond to this topic.  But since nobody else replied, I'll say a little something. 

I too find that my voice drops when I start talking about serious things, or boring things, or sad things.  My voice therapist told me to watch for those situations and use filler words like "ummm" and "soooo" in an upward glissando to help reset my voice.  She also stressed the importance of feeling the resonance vibrations in my head (which took a while to grasp, but I can do that now).  That way, regardless of what my voice sounds like to my ears, I'll know that my voice sounds feminine because I can feel the vibrations in my head.  This is especially useful in loud rooms where I can't always hear myself talking.

I haven't done any work on my voice but I've been told by a number of people that I naturally sound like I'm in the lower range for a woman. My father says I'm a Second Tenor and our Union head, who happens to be a Speech Pathologist and Therapist says Second Tenor or Low Alto. I don't hear it myself but I do get called ma'am even after a good 15-20 talking with patients so I suppose the combination of my appearance and voice is more feminine than I think it is.

Quote from: EmilyMK03 on June 28, 2016, 10:12:43 AM
I read your first post, but I've only been using my female voice for a few months, not 6 years like you, so I didn't think I was qualified to respond to this topic.  But since nobody else replied, I'll say a little something. 

I too find that my voice drops when I start talking about serious things, or boring things, or sad things.  My voice therapist told me to watch for those situations and use filler words like "ummm" and "soooo" in an upward glissando to help reset my voice.  She also stressed the importance of feeling the resonance vibrations in my head (which took a while to grasp, but I can do that now).  That way, regardless of what my voice sounds like to my ears, I'll know that my voice sounds feminine because I can feel the vibrations in my head.  This is especially useful in loud rooms where I can't always hear myself talking.

Thanks for the response. Yeah the um and so is a good one....but for me, I need to remember to do that even before responding haha.

Yeah I also feel like I need to practice more technical conversations and words (as well as negative or sad ones) since those instances I am more likely to drop slightly.