By: Mary Ann Akers
After her big upset in New Hampshire last month, Hillary Rodham Clinton
famously declared, "I found my own voice." What she also found was her own
voice coach.
According to Clinton campaign's latest federal campaign disclosure report,
the Democratic presidential candidate paid $7,500 to voice and drama coach
extraordinaire Michael Sheehan in October.
Sheehan, a graduate of the Yale School of Drama who once was the associated
producer of the Folger Theater Group, also helped shaped the voice and image
of Bill Clinton, who Sheehan features prominently on his web site. If anyone
could help Clinton soften her style, as the campaign sought to do in the
weeks leading up to the New Hampshire primary, it would be Sheehan.
According to Campaign & Elections magazine, Sheehan is "a political
candidate's best hope for developing the techniques to appear confident and
in-control in front of a television camera or a live audience. While some
pundits criticize candidates for using this type of service, people like
Lloyd Bentsen, Ann Richards and even Bill Clinton have all benefited from
his expertise."
Sen. Clinton also sought Sheehan's guidance for the publicity tour for her
memoir, "Living History," in which she describes her upbringing as well as
her "terrible, painful experience" in the White House.
Sheehan's clients include such media companies as the Washington Post and
AOL, as well as big oil companies, HMOs, insurance companies and defense
contractors.
"At some point, every kind of leader faces an important audience from behind
a lectern or in front of a television camera," goes the pitch on the Sheehan
Associates site. "A confident, relaxed ability to communicate effectively
can be your competitive edge."
Sheehan was traveling abroad Monday and unable to talk to us about his work
with Clinton. No word back from the Clinton campaign on whether Sheehan did,
indeed, help the New York senator find her own voice.
SOURCE: Washington Post
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