Nguyen Tuong Khang, a 12-year-old Vietnamese American, has been invited by a university in Virginia (USA) as a guest lecturer of speaking skills. He is paid $250 an hour.

In the 2010 public speaking finale held by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Khang won the finale, placed first out of the four finalists, with the topic “What Does Peace Means to Me?”.

 “There are three speeches I did for competitions on YouTube. The topics are self-perception, what does peace mean to me, and education. The one that most people look at on YouTube is the Inspirational Speech on Education. This was my most important speech even though I didn’t win. This is my most important speech because after seeing so many parents not spending time with their kids. I gave this speech as a message to the parents to get involved with their children’s education, not blaming the teachers or schools for their failure,” Khang said.

His speech on education was to complement President Obama’s speech on education, and encourage parents to motivate and instill in their children the importance of education in their lives.

Khang is a sixth grader at a primary school in Fairfax, Virginia. He joined a public speaking class at the age of 8. “ I did not know anything about this class; I didn’t know anything about public speaking. I just came because my dad said it’s important. When I saw what the class was, I thought this was a good idea because everything I do now will affect my future,” Khang said.

Besides having extraordinary speaking skills, Khang can swim, play violin, chess, wushu and taekwondo. He is studying Vietnamese at a school in Virginia.

Recently, Khang was invited by a Virginia state university as a guest lecturer once a week at 4pm on the subject of public speaking.