SAN FRANCISCO – School officials in Palo Alto are reconsidering their use of a popular speaker for an annual career day after he advised middle school students that they could earn a good living as strip dancers.

William Fried told eighth-graders at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School that stripping and exotic dancing could be lucrative career moves for girls, offering as much as $250,000 or more per year, depending on their bust size.

“It’s sick, but it’s true,” Fried, president of Foster City’s Precision Selling, a management consulting firm, told The Associated Press. “The truth of the matter is you can earn a tremendous amount of money as an exotic dancer, if that’s your desire.”

The school has asked Fried to give his 55-minute presentation, “The Secret of a Happy Life,” for the past three years.

A tip sheet he distributes to students includes a list of 140 potential careers and areas of interest they can consider pursuing. Along with professions as accounting and nursing, the list offers such nontraditional suggestions as exotic dancing, stripping and acting as a spiritual medium.

He counsels students to experiment with a variety of interests until they discover their “life’s purpose,” something they love and excel in. The presentation and handout have been praised by students, school principal Joseph Di Salvo and others said.