Trans Voice Coach

Help and safety

Looking after your voice, finding a person to work with, and answers to the questions people ask most.

If it hurts, stop.

Voice training is safe as long as it stays comfortable. Pain is never part of this. Voice work should feel like very little, and if it feels like effort, you're probably overdoing something.

If your voice is sore, hoarse or tired for more than a few days, stop practising and talk to a speech and language therapist or your GP.

What strain feels like

  • Tightness in your throat
  • Needing more effort than usual for the same sound
  • Your voice giving out towards the end of the day
  • A tickle, or wanting to clear your throat all the time
  • Losing the top of your range

Drink water. Don't practise over noise. Swallow instead of clearing your throat. Ten minutes is the recommendation for a reason: an hour isn't ten times better.

Finding a voice therapist

This app is ten minutes a day on your own. A speech and language therapist is a person trained to listen to your voice and change the plan as you go. Many work with trans people on voice, often remotely.

You don't need to be struggling to see one. Start with the professional body where you live: a qualification is the thing a web search can't check for you.

UKASLTIP lists private therapists. Check anyone on the HCPC register. NHS gender services often include voice therapy.
IrelandIASLT, the Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists.
USASHA’s ProFind. Look for the CCC-SLP credential.
CanadaSpeech-Language & Audiology Canada.
AustraliaSpeech Pathology Australia.
Worth asking them
  • Have you worked with trans people on voice before?
  • Do you offer sessions remotely?
  • Roughly how many sessions do people have, and what do they cost?

Questions

Getting started

Do I need any equipment?

Just your phone and somewhere you can make odd noises for ten minutes. Headphones are optional. A straw helps with one of the warm-ups.

I can’t practise out loud at home. Can I still use it?

Many exercises work quietly, and the library and articles need no voice at all. Practising quietly is better than not at all, as long as you don’t whisper: whispering is harder on your voice than speaking.

Is it only for trans women?

It’s built for anyone who wants a lighter, brighter voice, which includes many nonbinary people. The course doesn’t yet cover going lower.

Practising

I missed a few days. Have I lost my place?

No. The course moves when you practise, not by the calendar, so nothing is skipped. Just press Start.

Why can’t I practise for an hour?

You can, but it won’t help. Short and often is what changes a voice, and long sessions are how people strain. If your voice feels tired, that’s your session done.

The exercise sounds silly. Am I doing it right?

Probably. Most early exercises are meant to be exaggerated. Subtlety comes later, and it comes from there.

The app

Which phones does it work on?

Android phones for now, through Google Play. An iPhone version is next.

How do I delete everything?

Settings, then Delete everything. It removes your history, recordings and settings from your phone in one go.

Will it tell me if I sound like a woman?

No. An app can’t tell you that, and it doesn’t try. It shows what has changed in your own voice over time.

Something not working?

Use Send feedback in the app’s Settings. Say which phone you have and what you were doing. Replies come from a plain address and never mention what the app is for.

Support beyond your voice

If things are hard right now, talking to someone helps. Switchboard is the UK's LGBTQIA+ support line, staffed by people who get it.

Switchboard LGBT+: 0800 0119 100 10am to 10pm, every day