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.

PV