The above ideas are very useful for this. I find sometimes over-compressed stuff, even with the best settings, can lose some of the 'realness'. While bringing them forward, or making them hit harder is a consideration, there is also a need for natural sound. That's something not as easy to get, and compression can work against that. When does someone talking or singing right in your face sound 'compressed'? I've heard people in interviews say 'you have to have this or that mic or compressor'. Maybe to get the sound that particular engineer had, but it's possible without those. There's the school of thought praising forward mids, and equating those to "big vocals" (I don't). It's also something that makes you turn the voice down. The things I feel give girth (low end) and direction (high end) aren't as represented. That since the high end aspects are most directional, to our ears.
The part about this being very time consuming is true. Automation to avoid compression helps. Also some careful subtractive EQ. But not too much as phasing is also not what you hear in natural vocals. Once the parts that stick out too much in the mids are down, sibilance is tamed & it's not too boomy in the lows, the stuff left can come up a bit. If it's not poking you in the ear, more of that is welcome. Less noticable reverbs, as mentioned above. Pre-delay when you have reverb is helpful. You hear a vocal up-front, but then you get the width after that. It's a combination of getting it up front with the pre-delay, but allowing it that flattery that will also help it stay blended in the mix. It's easy to have it sound too much 'on top of' but not in the mix, when trying to get it up-front, or 'in your face'. Especially in over-compressed songs today. It can bring mids forward too much.