Avoiding Awkward Lip Shapes When Changing Your Voice

Modifying your voice often leads to unintentional changes in lip shape. This can cause awkward facial expressions, accelerate aging, and act as a tell that you're altering your voice. With some practice, you can avoid these unwanted lip habits.

So, in this article, we will discuss the topic of avoiding awkward lip shapes when changing your voice.

Smiling as a Crutch

Some outdated advice recommended smiling to sound more feminine. However, constant smiling is not natural or sustainable. You need to modify your voice in all contexts, not just when a smile makes sense.

Relying on smiling or other lip shapes is a crutch. It may initially help you alter resonance, but it doesn't address the root of the change. With practice, you can achieve your vocal goals regardless of lip position.

Catching Bad Lip Habits

When masculinizing their voice, many people unconsciously push their lips out. Feminizing often leads to pulling the lips back.

Look back at old voice training videos or practice in a mirror. Catch any tense or unnatural lip positions. Neutralize your lips with your hands while practicing to break the association.

Disassociating Lips from Resonance

Work on exercises that combine lip shapes and resonance. For example:

Neutralize lips, then practice resonance drills
Pull your lips back, keep them stretched, and find your feminine voice
Push your lips out but maintain your masculine sound

The lips act like a blanket, simply muffling the sound underneath. With practice, you can achieve your vocal goals regardless of lip position.

Avoid Accelerating Aging

Constantly tensing your lips accelerates the aging of the skin around your mouth. It creases the nasolabial folds more over time. Use your hands or practice in the mirror to catch this habit before it causes permanent changes.

Reduce Your Tells

Most people's faces are relaxed during the conversation. Visible effort in your lips is a tell that you're altering your voice. Practice speaking with neutral lips to appear natural.

Match Your Context

Some conversations require frowning or other expressions besides a smile. You need to flexibly adapt your voice, not be forced into certain lip positions. Practice so you can sound feminine or masculine as needed without relying on lip tricks.

With awareness and practice, you can break the association between your lips and voice. This will help you sound natural in all situations as you reach your vocal goals.