Clearing throat, coughing, sneezing, etc.

[Belle]

So far I am able to make voice changes and will eventually pass. But I have no idea how to deal with involuntary noises like clearing my throat, coughing, and sneezing. Does anyone have any tips on this? I always sound like a man when these things happen. Even just breathing has its own masculine or feminine sound, so that would be in this category too.

 

The other thing is that I have a cold right now and my voice is messed up and sounds even deeper than normal. How do you veteran girls deal with that sort of thing?

 

Thank you in advance!

Belle ❤️

 

[Jackie C.]

Practice. I put in about a half hour each day doing exercises to keep my voice in the right place and my pitch in the right range. Over time you build muscle memory and neural connections to keep your voice where it's supposed to be. After about fifteen months, it's hard to find my original voice. That's OK, I don't really miss it. I can go down on purpose, but my voice bounces back up to a G sharp when I'm not paying attention.

 

Sneezing is the same way. Fortunately, there's some play because everybody is a little different. I find that if I remember to go up at the end of a sneeze it sounds about right. At least I don't get any funny looks.

Coughs are the same way, they just happen, there's not a lot you can do about it. The same with sneezes though, there's a lot of different coughs out there. People are more concerned about "that person is coughing" than "that person coughs like a dude."

I don't like the way I clear my throat either, but the rest of my presentation is good enough that nobody says anything. I try to go up, but I sound like a Muppet. Even so, try taking it higher in your throat than you usually would.

Breathing is the same basic idea. Keep your breath resonating from your mask and tense the upper-middle range of your throat. After some practice, because I don't like grunting like a gorilla, I sound fairly feminine when I'm abusing myself during my daily workout.

 

At this point when I'm congested, I just sound like a congested woman. A lot of voice work is about speaking through your mask, not your chest. Head-voice, not chest-voice if you've had any musical training. While pitch is important, it's more important to keep your resonance in the right place. That's a much stronger female marker.

 

Then, of course, there's all the other feminine markers. The one that nearly broke me was finishing a sentence without going up OR down. That took a lot of practice, but now I do it organically.

 

I found voice training to be a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun. I hope this helps you along your path.

 

Hugs!

[ShawnaLeigh]

Very good question Bella.  I have concerns over this too.  I am starting to get anxious over all the involuntary male sounds and my voice sounds terrible to me.  I have tried some iPhone apps that seemed to be working according to the pitch analysis tool but it still sounds male to me.  I’m very discouraged over it all. I hope to find a voice coach locally and hope that helps.  

[VickySGV]

The old bat that has been out for 10 years has discovered that posture for the snork, sniffle, hack and hoff helps on those noises.  Shoulders back and add a little end noise that goes up in pitch so instead of achoo, it is achooeey.  On a cought also add a little extra so that it does not end as abruptly as guys do it.  Add an uplifted "ahem" after the cough going about 3 notes up the scale. "<cough> ahem".  Not perfect, but people notice less than we are afraid of for those things.  I will make this point generally known some day that it is not voice pitch and timber nearly as much as word choice and a little bit of musicality and variation in the words. "Good Morning" said as a guy is monotone slurred into a single word.  For a woman, it is Good Mor.Ning said as three notes,  F to G to A  is my usual spread or even G, F, A makes it a feminine thing.  B below middle C is where a guy does it.

[ToniTone]

My advice: don't get sick! ?

Sorry bad joke, couldn't help it... 

 

~Toni

[KymmieL]

The one thing I am most worried about is blowing my nose. It is like a fog horn. Has been for ever.

 

Kymmie

[Jackie C.]

Fortunately, cis women (my wife included) often have the same problem. With some practice though, you can throw the sound high and forward to give yourself a more feminine honk.

 

Hugs!

[Belle]

2 hours ago, Jackie C. said:

Fortunately, cis women (my wife included) often have the same problem. With some practice though, you can throw the sound high and forward to give yourself a more feminine honk.

 

Hugs!

?

[Wichita]

On 12/31/2019 at 9:59 AM, KymmieL said:

The one thing I am most worried about is blowing my nose. It is like a fog horn. Has been for ever.

 

Kymmie

I warn ships away from the shore part-time during allergy season. 

[Guest]

Just try to muffle  if possible  . Ewy on the end might  . Are as my family  does they go Haha sh%% you get the I'd I have a killer little  girl voice  I can do on the phone  that fool all . It mainly practice practice  you get the hang of it hun