How to Plan Smart Gender Affirming Voice Goals for Real Results

Do you ever feel like you’re not getting anywhere with your voice? 

Whether you’re working on vocal feminization or vocal masculinization, it can be a frustrating feeling. 

Maybe you’re not sure if you’re actually making progress. Maybe you’re not sure what you should be practicing, exactly. Or maybe you’re not yet able to use your new voice in conversation. 

Below, I’m going to talk about how to make vocal modification goals that help you actually get results. 

SMART Goals

The concept of SMART goals was introduced in 1981 by George T. Doran. He worked for the Washington Water Power Company as a consultant and a director of corporate planning. He wrote a paper called, “There’s a SMART Way to Write Management’s Goals and Objectives”. In it, he proposes the acronym “SMART” as a way to ensure success and reach your goals. 

So let’s see how we can apply SMART to voice training to get the best results possible! 

Specific

S stands for specific. 

In voice training, you might go into it with a pretty broad goal: a more feminine perceived voice, a more masculine perceived voice, or an androgynous voice. 

That’s great to get started, but with more general goals, it can be challenging to know when you’ve actually reached the goal. 

For instance, if you're interested in tennis, and your goal is "get better at tennis" - you won't know when you've arrived.

Same applies to the voice. If you say, "I want a better feminine voice". When will you know that it's "better"?

So, as you get into your training, you might specify more. By looking at the different elements of voice training, like pitch, resonance, vocal weight, or inflection, you can get specific. Within each element, what will your goals be?

Specific goal examples:

• By my next lesson, I will have an average pitch range of 165hz.

• By the end of the month, I will feel confident with forward vowel placement.

Measurable

M stands for measurable. 

As you’re getting into voice training, you can quickly forget what your voice sounded like or felt like when you first started. Since you’re with your voice every day, you probably won’t notice the incremental change. 

That’s where creating measurable goals comes in. 

Pitch is the easiest element to measure. You can look at your pitch app and see if you’re higher or lower. Other elements might take work to be able to hear the differences. You could create a scale of 1-10, 1 being the darkest, 10 being the brightest. And judge your recordings on that scale. 

Example of measurable goals:

• I will have an average of 165hz by the first of next month. I will measure it with Voice Tools. 

• I will be an 8 on my resonance scale by the 15th of next month. I will measure using my own ears.  

Achievable 

A stands for achievable. 

It’s easy to go into voice training trying to learn everything at once and get overwhelmed. Our brains can only handle so much input at a time. 

When you get overwhelmed, you might get frustrated and quit. You might think, “Why should I try? I can’t do it! It’s too much.”

Breaking your goals down into achievable milestones is a great way to ensure that you’ll achieve your overarching goal. 

If you say, “I want to have an average of 165hz by tomorrow”, and your current average is 130hz, that might be an unrealistic goal. Or if you say, “I want a feminine perceived voice in 2 weeks,” again, that might be unrealistic. 

Working with your teacher on what might be an achievable goal can be really helpful in keeping you motivated throughout this process.

It might take time for you to get a sense of what is realistic for you.

Relevant

R stands for relevant. 

It’s important to get clear with yourself about why you’re doing voice training. What relevance does this have to your life?

You can ask yourself some of these questions: 

• How will modifying your voice change how you feel about yourself? 

• How will voice training change your level of comfort when you meet someone new? 

• What affect will voice training have on your work life? 

If you’re clear on why you’re doing this work, it helps with the motivation factor. 

Time-Bound

T stands for time-bound. 

I don’t know about you, but a deadline can really whip me into shape. Without a deadline, a lot of my goals go unfinished.

Now, it’s important to note that voice training can take different amounts of time for different people. There is no correct amount of time for any of this. 

However, creating time-based goals can be helpful in avoiding procrastination and for keeping you motivated. 

For instance, having a lesson on the books might keep you motivated to practice and keep you from putting it off. Having a set time in mind of when you’d like to start using your voice full time in daily life can be a good way to stay on track. 

Summary

The SMART system is a great way to ensure that you are being realistic about your goals and stay motivated. No system is perfect, and you’ll always have to find what works for you. 

Ready to get started with your voice journey?