NEWS RELEASE
Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu)
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466
1/25/2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATCHITOCHES - Communications consultant Michael Sheehan, one of the nation’s leading speech coaches, will lecture at Northwestern State University Thursday, Jan. 31 from 5 p.m. until 7:50 p.m. in the Ora G. Williams Studio in Kyser Hall (Room 142). His lecture is part of the Winning Communications Lecture Series. The public is invited to attend. Admission is $15 or $99 for the entire lecture series.
The Lecture Series is being offered through Northwestern State University’s Office of Electronic and Continuing Education and Department of Journalism.
During his lecture, Sheehan will provide coaching on correct posture, word usage, proper use of a podium, gestures, use of modulation in voice and more.
Sheehan has been a leader in the field of communications consulting for more than 25 years. He has prepared countless corporate spokespersons for programs including Nightline, 60 Minutes, 20/20, The Today Show, Good Morning America and Crossfire.
As a confrontational debate specialist, he is one of the most utilized consultants in the country. He prepares CEOs, CFOs and senior executives from banking/financial services, insurance, defense, airline, medical, energy, and consumer industries to step into the media/public affairs spotlight. Nationally known for his expertise in message development and training, he has been called upon to help in critical business situations such as initial public offerings, shareholder meetings, hostile takeovers/defenses, corporate legal battles and more.
His client list includes major corporations (JP Morgan Chase, Procter & Gamble, Lockheed Martin); trade associations (American Bar Association, Recording Industry Association of America); foundations and public interest groups (Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation); and the federal government (Centers for Disease Control, US Postal Service, Environmental Protection Agency).
Sheehan has coached more U.S. presidents, vice presidents, cabinet secretaries, governors, and members of Congress than anyone in the country. He coached President Bill Clinton during the 1992 and 1996 campaigns, Presidential Debates, and for all of his Inaugural, State of the Union, and Oval Office addresses. He coached both John Kerry and John Edwards for the 2004 Presidential/Vice Presidential Debates.
In 1988, Sheehan was debate coach for former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen in his celebrated debate with Vice President Dan Quayle, and for Vice President Al Gore in his CNN debate with H. Ross Perot as well as the 1996 Vice Presidential Debate with Jack Kemp. Since 1988, he has been hired by the Democratic National Committee for every convention to edit the texts and rehearse all speakers, including the party's nominees and keynote speakers, for their nationally televised convention speeches.
He received his BSFS from Georgetown University and his MFA from the Yale School of Drama. Profiled in national publications from The New York Times to The Washington Post, he has appeared on all three networks' news programs as well as those on CNN, CNBC, and Fox News. His speeches have been broadcast on C-SPAN, and he is a guest lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. In 1991, he received the Individual Achievement Award from the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association and was recently named to the Leadership Council for the Yale School of Drama.
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