Clubhouse Recap: Dave Walsh on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club

Huge thanks to Marc Guss and his guest on the Marc Guss Voiceover Club last night, Dave Walsh! Dave is a respected VO talent, coach, and creator of the TrueTell™ Method. With 32 years in the business as a talent working in nearly every VO genre, and 14 years as a coach, Dave’s credentials are evident right from the start of the conversation.

Dave shared an interesting part of his background when he talked about how after a vocal injury, a coach told him that he was using his voice inauthentically. As he worked with a speech pathologist, he learned that he was trying to artificially create voices instead of using his true voice. Dave realized that this wasn’t only a problem that actors face – it can affect anyone. We use different aspects of our voice depending on who we are talking to, for example.

Dave spent four years working as an apprentice with a doctor to understand this more deeply, and he developed his coaching program that lets him hear right away when someone is speaking inauthentically. What a level of dedication to gain this kind of understanding of the human voice!

As Marc pointed out, Dave’s journey took him here, to teach people authenticity in this business, adding “authenticity is inescapable” and it’s what people want.

Dave said that the client is looking for a point of view, not just a nice voice. And when you audition, “you’re sending in your own opinion and not worrying about the way your voice sounds.” He added that they don’t just want the pretty voice, they want the story, and that “your sound just supports your point of view.”

We listened as people read their commercial copy for Dave and he guided them to that place of authenticity. He encouraged readers to personalize the copy for themselves, to find a way to connect to it, and hearing the transformations in people’s performances was incredible!

One note that he gave to several people was that when you trip on words, it’s a red flag that you aren’t connected to the script. That can be a chance to reset and start again.

Marc had a great way of summing up the evening by saying, “Success in the VO industry is a combo of authentic read, confidence, luck, a break here and there…and working with Dave Walsh.”

And although I was having technical problems with Clubhouse and wasn’t able to join the stage, I still enjoyed listening to Dave’s insights and everyone’s reads. I had planned to ask Dave a question, and I’ll ask it here for him or anyone reading to answer:

“Can you talk about some turning points or moments when things clicked for you? It may have been a piece of advice you got or maybe a certain insight you gained from a job, coach, or student, for example…?”

Feel free to leave your answer below!

I had the pleasure of meeting Dave several months ago when I was a part of the Top 40 Callback for the CBS Audition Spotlight held by the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences and Dave was the lead judge. It was a great experience and I appreciated his kindness and humor. I hope to work with him in the future!

Thanks so much to Marc and Dave for the amazing conversation, and for the insightful audience questions that furthered the discussion! Check out the Marc Guss Voiceover Club every Wednesday night on Clubhouse at 8:30 pm ET.