How to be more animated?

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Since being diagnosed with Aspergers, i've noticed that i'm not very expressive. My voice is very monotone and I feel very stiff in social situations. I kind of feel like i'm covered in hardened paper mache! Everybody else(especially women) move a lot and have very expressive voices and faces. I'd like to appear more animated too and i'd like my voice to be less monotone. Does anybody have any tips on how I can achieve this?

Find a DVD copy of a movie comedy. Understand that comedy actors have exaggerated mannerisms and voicing, but while you watch it, look for their animated bahaviors and try mimicking them. Use a mirror. You might feel strange at first, but you are trying out a new behavior; of course, it will seem strange at first. Try finding a happy medium between your own mannerisms and theirs.

After several practice sessions, you will probably get the idea of what you are striving for, and be able to adapt your own ideas to the final result. It could take days or weeks of practice, but it should show you some improvement. You won't become Meryl Streep, but you will notice a difference.

It sounds silly, I know, but I used to recommend a variation of this technique to my friends in politics who wanted to appear friendlier while still appearing to be serious. We used DVD movies related to politics and business as the examples.

Keep practicing and good luck!

Ah that's a good idea! It sounds like it could definitely help me with my facial expressions and body language. Thanks for the tip

This is something I've noticed recently and have tried to improve on. I think it's all slow steps and just practising. I've tried finding a cheap online sing course as one method to help, and there was one optimistic point from this. The things you ise are mainly muscles so like working out in the gym, you can mprove these once you start figuring out how to use them correctly. My theory is it is just one of those things that most people unconsciously and naturally tried to imitate others so got a better range for that reason.

Like the other poster said, I think the mirror is a good idea, I have also tried that and have been able to pull some more faces and notice which parts of my face I have more control of and which can be worked on. A really hard one to do is to record you r voice and listen back to it! I appreciate this is not a fun experience, but you do get used to it and it has helped me improve my range. I still don't have a good range of pitch and cadance, but I am clearer and can almost make a noise that you would class as singing! I've only been trying it for a few months, buty if you want to improve then I think the best way is to be able to see and hear yourself and then the body is able to associate actions with the output.

It is bizare, but I've experience this in the gym, muscle memory does work, by balance and strength are much better once I worked on it rather than rely on what comes naturally to me.