Voice training
Working on the voice so it matches how you want to be heard.
Voice training is deliberate practice to change how the voice sounds: pitch, resonance, intonation and the small habits that listeners read as gendered. It is used most by trans women and transfeminine people, because testosterone changes a voice and oestrogen does not.
It is slow, and it is a physical skill rather than a setting. Most people work with a speech therapist, an online programme, or a community of people doing the same thing, over months rather than weeks.
Resonance matters more than pitch, which surprises almost everyone starting out. A voice raised in pitch alone tends to sound strained rather than different.
It matters more than its technicality suggests, because the voice is the part that gives someone away on the phone, in a queue, at a counter, where nothing else about presentation is in play.
Voice training is not putting on a voice
It gets described as an impression someone is doing, which misses that the aim is a voice that is sustainable all day without thinking about it.
The training is largely about making the new voice automatic, which is why it takes months. A voice that requires attention is not finished.
Saying it well
Say this
- I am doing voice training.
- Resonance, more than pitch.
- Months, not weeks.
- A speech therapist, if you can get one.
Not this
- Just talk higher
- Your voice is a dead giveaway
- Do the voice
- Why bother?
Questions people actually ask
What is voice training?
Deliberate practice to change pitch, resonance and intonation so the voice matches how someone wants to be heard.
Who does voice training?
Most often trans women and transfeminine people, since testosterone changes the voice and oestrogen does not.
How long does it take?
Usually months, because the aim is a voice that is automatic rather than performed.
Is pitch the most important part?
No. Resonance matters more, which surprises most people starting out.