well I think most of your help is going to come by way of youtube searches. There are many different tutorial methods there that can help. I also suggest a really good microphone. I suggest this because how we hear our voice is a combination of vocal reflection (sound bouncing back to us) and the vibrations of the sound within our own skull. So what we hear when we hear our voice is VERY different than what others hear when they hear us speak. If you have a really good microphone and record yourself talk via something like audacity or some other free recording software you can hear what you sound like to others without the resonance interference. This is only going to help with tone, not fluctuation. Fluctuation is arguably the most critical. Women speak melodically not monotone as men do. So again go on youtube, listen to a character or woman speak and pay close attention to the dance her voice makes as she speaks. Listening to a good number of women you will hear that the average tone varies heavily from low tenor to high alto and even soprano but the variation range will tend to be the same whichever base tone they are at. Those are about the only two things I can suggest. Observe and practice and tweak it. As you speak more and more in the altered voice it will "fill out" and become more natural sounding.

thanks, I actually am a musician and have microphones (and have heard my voice, so nasally), for some reason I go into this bizarre southern accent when I try to hard, haha. I have a bit of a dark tone in my voice as well so its going to be interesting to try and get something that doesnt sound like darth vader on helium. thanks for the advice!

well lots of people like the southern accent so that may not be a bad thing ;) as for the nasally, its all about resonance which you know. The vocals you will be using are ones that are not used to being used so they will sound a bit more... twangy until they get worked. Think like a new string on an instrument, there is a very distinct difference in sound between a new string and an old string. same thing here. The lower cords are used to doing everything and the upper cords aren't, so its getting those upper cords worked into the equation.

Experts suggest making an appointment with a speech specialist that is trained to deal with voice, is the safest way to make the voice pitch more feminine, but the training can be expensive latter on. If your going to do this yourself you will need a microphone that you can plug into your computer, recording software should already be in your computer. Next you will need a bottled of water, drinking sips in between training will help protect the vocal cords from training. Next, you will need a musical keyboard/piano the idea is to find a scale note ranging anywhere from CDEFGBA and stick with whatever the new tone pitch is, and don't go over the scale to prevent damage to the vocal cords. Check out this video blog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq43BGNeAzQ
Rhonda

I resonate with this and I'm going to come at it from a perspective that I haven't seen stressed, so here goes.
Do all women speak similarly? Do all men? Obviously not. Why do you find your natural speaking voice disagreeable? I haven't even heard your voice and I don't find it disagreeable, because it's your voice and it does NOT impact the reality of who you understand yourself to be, just as mine does not impact me.

This is my natural speaking voice-Darth Vader, with a cold. I can match the lowest note on a piano! So, from a "cookie cutter" feminine take, my natural voice is a 'negative' that I stand on it's head and use as a positive. I've used my voice with intent to devastating effect.

My point is this-being who we are, who we've realized ourselves to be is what it's about. Cookie cutters have to be be recognized and resisted or being true to one's own self is lost. You don't answer to me or anyone else, but you do answer to yourself. Good luck.

Binarystar