How to Talk Like a Man

My quest to find out what really makes a guy sound like a guy. [View in Browser]( [Esquire Sunday Reads]( [How to Talk Like a Man]( How to Talk Like a Man As I crossed two years on testosterone, I’d look in the mirror and marvel at the man who blinked back. And yet, I remained hesitant to speak in public, afraid my voice would give me away and perhaps I’d find myself in danger. I marveled that my body knew how to do any of this, like somewhere the architect had drawn up plans for my male self and then just left them on the workbench. I fixated on the voices of other men. I listened to both trans and cis men, how they talked in person and in the media. I couldn’t answer the question: How are men supposed to talk? I consoled myself that some cis men sound really high pitched. Like Sam Bankman-Fried, for example, real high voice, or David Sedaris with his iconic Billie Holiday impersonation. But a few outliers didn’t seem like much of a consolation if my goal was to pass. Especially as a five-foot-four guy, especially where I live, in a rural area where Trump flags fly. I tried to remind myself that what the other side wants is for me to be afraid. Their worst nightmare is a trans life well lived. Someone like me continuing to be alive felt like an act of rebellion. Every Sunday morning when that syringe plunged beneath my skin, I felt a hit of Fuck ’em, I’ll just survive. And so I resolved to find a speech therapist to teach me to talk like a man. [Read the Full Story]( [MORE FROM ESQUIRE]( [How Do I Keep My Kid Off Screens This Summer?]( How Do I Keep My Kid Off Screens This Summer? Your kids, and their entire generation, are swimming in a never-ending stream of digital distractions. Every click is designed to grab their attention like metal to a magnet, and as the grown-up in charge, you have the Herculean task of luring them away! The problem isn’t just with the pull of the Internet. 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