How to shoot Bob Brown?

No, seriously.
I was at a campaign presentation the other day and they had carefully arranged things so that the only decent shot of him talking required me to levitate above the heads of the audience in front of him. The two angles I could get are these, then the stage setup to give you ideas:
Neither really appeal. The media photog was using the second one with a (Nikon) 70-200, but where she was standing gave the ugly proscenium pillar behind his head. Any suggestions?
I was at a campaign presentation the other day and they had carefully arranged things so that the only decent shot of him talking required me to levitate above the heads of the audience in front of him. The two angles I could get are these, then the stage setup to give you ideas:



Neither really appeal. The media photog was using the second one with a (Nikon) 70-200, but where she was standing gave the ugly proscenium pillar behind his head. Any suggestions?