When most people think about voice lessons, they imagine music students learning scales or actors refining projection. But for trans and nonbinary people, voice training is about much more than performance. It’s about finding a sound that feels like home.

In my work as a gender-affirming voice teacher, I meet people who come to trans voice lessons for all kinds of reasons: some want a more feminine voice training path, others want to explore masculine voice training, and many are looking for something in between. At the heart of it all is one question: How do I build a voice that feels good to live in?

This talk, recorded at the Charlene Arcila Trans Wellness Collective symposium, explores how voice work can act both as resistance and as self-care. We’ll look at why voices are policed, how to reclaim them, and how practices like vocal feminization training and voice masculinization training can be a source of care rather than just correction.

Watch the Talk

Here’s the full video version of the talk. In it, I guide you through gentle warm-ups and share a low-barrier practice you can try today.

Why Voice Matters

Voice has never been neutral. The way we sound is constantly read and judged, and for trans people, those judgments often come with real consequences. A lot of people come to trans voice training because they want relief from dysphoria, but that’s not the whole story.

Some people are looking for safety, to be read in a way that keeps them from being harassed in public. Others want to sound more like themselves when they speak to loved ones. And for many, it’s simply about joy: the freedom to play with sound and find a voice that feels expressive and alive.

This is why I don’t frame trans voice work as just about “fixing” or “passing.” It’s about exploring options and building flexibility. Whether you want to shift toward something more feminine, more masculine, or something in between, the point is to find a voice you can actually live in, not just one you can perform for others.

Voice as Resistance and Self-Care

When we talk about voice training, it’s easy to reduce it to mechanics: pitch, resonance, breath. But underneath those tools are the reasons people do this work, and those reasons are deeply personal.

For some, training their voice is about survival and moving through the world with less risk of being misgendered or targeted. For others, it’s about comfort, easing the gap between how they feel inside and how they’re heard outside. And for many, it’s about creativity and play, exploring the full range of what their voice can do.

That’s why I describe trans voice work as both resistance and care. It’s resistance because choosing how to sound pushes back against the narrow expectations society puts on gender. And it’s care because making a sound that feels like you, even and maybe especially just for yourself, is a radical act of kindness and compassion towards yourself.

Try It Yourself

In the video, I point you towards a short warm-up and then invite you into a practice you can try on your own. It’s simple: make a little sound, notice how it feels, and write down what you hear. That’s it.

You don’t need to sound “feminine” or “masculine” or anything in particular. The point is just to get curious about your voice. What happens if you let yourself play? What happens if you listen without judgment?

These kinds of low-barrier practices are often the most powerful. They give you a way to check in with your voice day to day, to notice changes over time, and to start building a relationship with your voice

Next Steps

• Try the Free Voice Warm-Up

• Explore my Trans Voice Training Courses

• Sign up for my Free Resource Library

And if you’re part of a school, university, or organization that would benefit from this kind of work, I’d love to bring this talk or a workshop to your community. You can reach out to me directly here.