As Ashton Kutcher approached the podium Sunday, August 11 at the Teen Choice Awards, I don’t think anyone could have predicted what he was about to say.

Kutcher won the Ultimate Choice Award, the highest honor of the night, which he later joked about and called the “Old Guy Award.”

Amid many thunderous screams by countless teenage girls, Kutcher first revealed that his actual name is Chris, with Ashton being his middle name. He then began to discuss three significant things he learned before he was famous, when he was better known as Chris.

Kutcher talked about many jobs he had as a teenager, saying “opportunity looks a lot like hard work.”

“When I was 13, I had my first job with my dad carrying shingles up to the roof, and then I got a job washing dishes at a restaurant, and then I got a job in a grocery store deli, and then I got a job at a factory sweeping Cheerio dust off the ground,” he said.

He continued, discussing how opportunities and hard work are related. “I’ve never had a job in my life that I was better than. I was always just lucky to have a job. And every job I had was a stepping stone to my next job, and I never quit my job until I had my next job. And so opportunities look a lot like work.”

Kutcher then went on to discuss what being “sexy” is really about. Most likely shocking many of the teenage fans at the event, he revealed that being sexy is about intelligence and generosity.

“The sexiest thing in the entire world is being really smart,” he said to cheers. “And being thoughtful, and being generous. Everything else is crap, I promise you. It’s just crap that people try to sell to you to make you feel like less. So don’t buy it! Be smart, be thoughtful and be generous.”

Kutcher ended his speech by talking about the type of life he believes is the most fulfilling. “Everything around us that we call life was made up of people that are no smarter than you,” he said. “And you can build your own things; you can build your own life that other people can live in. So build a life — don’t live one, build one.”

As of September 1, the speech had over 3 million views on YouTube.

So while Miley Cyrus is off twerking on national television, at least there’s a glimmer of hope for the next generation, coming from an unlikely source.