Marlana-Patrice Hamer

I have lived in the midwest, Ohio and Indiana, so I can clearly speak in that manner. My late parents were both from the South and I have also visited so I can do Southern accents quite handily. Some people have sometimes mistaken me for being from the South or Texas. I also have relatives from New York who I have visited and talked to often enough to be able to imitate the Brooklyn accent, for instance. My late husband grew up in Connecticut and was educated in the Boston area so that Northeast Coast flavor is easy for me to duplicate as well. Since I grew up in an integrated neighborhood, attended an integrated college, and interact with people of all ages and races all of the time, I can readily impersonate any of the following: a stoner, a college jock, a high-maintenance Paris Hilton wanabee, a Kanye West wanabee, a Taylor Swift wanabee, a Beyonce wanabee, a Madonna wanabee, a spoiled suburban teenager, a Joe the Plumber, a Sarah Palin wanabee, a Michelle Obama wanabee, a Barack Obama wanabee...I keep up with pop culture so I think I can impersonate many, many celebrity types and people in general.

To date, the only voice over work I actually got paid for was a teaching CD for the Ohio Department of Education. It was called the OGT (Ohio Graduation Test) CD Rom Project, 2005. I never saw the finished product but I know it is out there in cyberspace. In it, I teach a mini-lesson introducing students to how to write persuasively. I was in an actual classroom teaching some of my own students. I prepared my lesson in advance. We were also given pointers about how to dress, etc. All of us involved signed written agreements. The lesson ran about 30 minutes. In the actual CD, I am also featured in an interview section. Over the years, I have been the Mistress of Ceremonies for various church and school cultural events too. My voice over experience actually started with the plays my siblings and I used to perform in our backyard. From there, I would say my next major experience was in junior high school when I was a reader for an Open House program. Before college, I was also asked to present speeches. One very memorable one was when I delivered the Scholarship speech for a National Honor Society high school induction. During most of high school, I also wrote for the school newspaper. I was in the Drama club then. When I graduated as the salutatorian, I received the coveted Drama award too. Following that, I took speech and drama classes in college where I completed a Bachelor of Arts in English. I am certified to teach English and Reading. Briefly, I also taught speech and drama high school classes. Although most of my teaching experience is on the secondary level, I have experience teaching writing on the college level. For extra-curricular activities in college, I was a staff writer for The Carroll News. I was also briefly in the university's Glee Club. My interest in writing and singing started when I was very young. The latter was nurtured through my involvement in school and church choirs. My family also performed as a singing group when I was younger. We appeared on local televised Ohio programs as well as participated in local community events. I furthered my acting training at Karamu House in Cleveland, Ohio. For many years, I have also been a member of Toastmaster's International. Giving speeches and attending workshops related to speaking and leadership have been frequent. That paid off in many ways. For instance, I have won several awards for public speaking including the Northeast Ohio Humorous Speech Contest (District 10) award in 1994. I also performed my first place speech at the Region VI Humorous Speech Contest Winners Showcase in London, Ontario (1995). Being a Toastmaster also helped me become a more effective English instructor. Daily, teachers use their speaking abilities to convey knowledge. In 2005, I enrolled in a Master's of Education program. Happily, I completed all of the requirements by May 2007. As part of my MED requirements, I had to do individual and group projects. Many of these required PowerPoint presentations I had to present in front of my instructor and fellow classmates. I achieved high marks on all of them. More recently, I have spent extensive time developing my speaking skills through the medium of poetry and the Spoken Word. I have participated in many Open Mic performances of my own original poetry. In fact, in 2008, I won second place in a contest that was in part judged by my performance of my poem. That poem and others are now published. I also have won other writing competitions. Just this year, I auditioned for a tribute and was cast in two supporting roles (Voice and Fan). I also sang since this was in large part a musical production. We performed the tribute in downtown Phoenix in October 2009. There were a total of five performances. They were well-received in the community. It is my hope that we can perform the play again soon. I would like to audition for and perform in other productions too. In short, I really enjoy the performing arts because they allow me to interpret the words written by me as well as others. Without question, speaking and singing are prime ways I enjoy sharing my love of words with others. I do not have my own studio, but do have access to one. At present, I can say it has all of the standard voice over equipment. I will have to check with the owner soon so I can provide more details here. As stated above, I have experience as a teacher, a speaker, an actress, a singer, a poet, and a writer. I also have extensive leadership ability. Aside from teaching, I was an officer in both my Toastmaster club and national sorority's chapter. In the latter, I served as the recording secretary who had to prepare as well as read all of her minutes at every monthly meeting. I did that for two years. The following two years, I served as my chapter's Public Relations Director. In addition to presiding over my own meetings, I had to give oral reports at all of our monthly meetings. I wrote and submitted all of our press releases; I had to arrange for other media coverage, such as the group photo shoots too. It was a great experience holding all of these offices. I also have extensive experience dealing with the public through my other jobs. For over four years, I worked in the film department at Cleveland State University's main library. I had to speak to professors and other clients every day, both in person and on the phone. Very briefly, I was a Sales Associate at Dillard's department store. I also did telecommunication work on a part-time basis from my own home.