Making a video in which you share your reason for supporting equal marriage is the most important contribution you can make to the campaign. Let others know why you’re voting yes and ask them to vote with you. We’ve prepared some simple advice on making a short effective contribution:

Who should make a video?

The more perspectives we can provide to undecided voters, the more chances to connect with them and encourage a strong yes vote. Therefore, we’re asking those of voting age, who’ve made up their minds, to make videos saying why and asking others to support equal marriage. If you’re not of voting age, but still want to get involved in campaigning, you can check out the initiatives from fantastic organisations like Belong To.

Some Irish citizens who live abroad have already gotten involved, and we’re interested to hear more from similar people who want to ask others to vote yes so that they can come home to a better Ireland. Similarly, citizens of other countries, especially where equal marriage is already the law, might want to share their experiences. We welcome these videos too.

Be Honest. Be Encouraging. Be Positive

Everyone’s message will be different and what’s important is that you speak from the heart. Think about your personal experiences, the experiencess of your family and friends, or speak about the convictions that will motivate you to vote yes.

Share one simple message about what a yes vote will mean to you and the people you love.

Practice Your Message

When you know what you’re going to talk about, practice your message a few times before you record it. Keep your message brief! (We think 30-90 seconds is an ideal length.) Practicing a few times, especially with someone else, will help you refine your message and clearly make the points you think are important.

Remember the opening line!

The videos have a recognisable format that makes them easy to see as part of one coherent campaign. You can help yours to fit in by using the opening line. Introduce yourself, let others know you’re voting yes, and ask them to vote with you:

“Hello, my name is …, I’m voting for equal marriage, and I hope you’ll vote with me.”The #VoteWithUs Opening Line

If you’re living overseas or don’t have a vote in the referendum, you can still talk about the importance of voting yes and can vary the intro line to suit your circumstances. You’ll find several examples of videos from Irish people living abroad, already in the archive.

Practical tips for your set-up:

When you are filming there are a few easy steps to take to make sure things look and sound their best for your video. You’ve probably filmed plenty of short clips on your phone, webcam or camera before, but here’s a quick checklist for the best results:

Lighting

Make sure that you’re working in good light. It’s best to record in bright even daylight, making sure there are no strong shadows on you or overly bright lights behind you. If you’re comfortable with video editing, it’s possible to adjust footage afterwards, but there’s no substitute for a bright, clear, well-lit original!

Sound

Naturally, you want everyone to hear what you have to say about voting yes, so film in the quietest setting available. Common annoyances to a good take are unexpected audio (Turn off your phone!), and background humming or dins, like electrical appliances or traffic. Avoid these insofar as you can, and do a quick test when you’re starting to see how well your device is picking you up.

Time

Unless you’re a total pro, you’ll probably find you need to do more than one take. Make sure that you’ve put aside some time to make your video the way you want, but we aware that a message can start off warm and conversational and quickly become monotone or robotic if you repeatedly say the same thing, or inadvertently learn it off. If you’re taking your time, vary up what you’re saying somewhat to keep it natural. It can be hugely helpful to have someone else there to reassure you and to offer some friendly guidance on what’s working, which brings us on to…

Get and Give Help

Like most tasks, making a video for the campaign is best done with some help. Our best videos at launch have been the ones where we’ve worked closely with the contributors, providing a good set-up as outlined above, a good chat-through of what they’re planning to say, and a friendly thumbs up when the take is a good one. Help one another out in pairs or small groups and everyone’s contributions will benefit.

Setting up your own video day, where you and a group friends or co-workers plan and shoot your videos together is also an excellent option, which you’ll find some advice on here on the site.

Let us know when it’s ready:

Lastly, when you’ve made your video contribution and you’ve uploaded it to YouTube (using #VoteWithUs in the title!), then let us know so that we can help promote it as part of the campaign, and feature it here on the site:

If you’re looking for some simple step-by-step guides to uploading your video to youtube, check out these quick guides to uploading your video from your computer or uploading your video from your phone.