Dubuque, Iowa: Speak-Easy Club

Dubuque, Iowa 
Meets 6:30 PM Eastern Time on Wednesdays
Attendance: 4 (2 members, 2 guests)

Maintaining membership is an ever-present concern for many Toastmasters club and this is the case for the Speak-Easy Club in Dubuque, Iowa. According to the Toastmasters International dashboard, the club currently has four members and the club president said they had been struggling with the membership for the past couple of years.

The good thing about the Speak-Easy Club is that they haven't given up. Many years ago, when I was coaching a club that had dwindled to three members, a veteran Toastmaster gave me this excellent piece of advice about reviving a club: Act as IF. He meant to always conduct your club meetings as if you have 20 members and always have a real Toastmasters meeting when you meet. I never forgot that. And that is what is happening at Speak-Easy.

With just four people at the meeting, we had to double up -- and more -- on meeting roles. David served as Toastmaster of the Day, General Evaluator, and gave a speech. Andrew evaluated David's speech. I served as Timer and Ah Counter / Grammarian, while my wife Cynthia headed up the Table Topics portion of the meeting.

David's speech was great. He discussed the different perspectives of people who live in small towns versus big cities. Andrew's evaluation was on point too. He focused on the mechanics of the speech and he also had keen insights about speaking in the small space that Zoom limits us to in our meetings. 

One unique thing about this club is that there is a Table Topics Evaluator, who evaluates each Table Topic answer. That way, David said, each person who answers a question goes home with feedback. Like I always say, feedback is a cornerstone of the Toastmasters program. 

If you're looking for an online Toastmasters meeting to attend or if you live in the Dubuque area, I strongly recommend this club. You can contact the club on Facebook by clicking here.


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