Face your partner. Women, put your left hand on your partner’s shoulder, and hold your partner’s hand with your right hand, extending your arm slightly out to the side. Men, put your right hand on your partner’s mid-back, and hold your partner’s hand with your left hand, extending your arm slightly to the side.
Step in place with your right foot (these steps are described for women, men should reverse everything). Next step in place with your left foot. Your legs should be slightly apart, and you should rock slightly to each side as you step.
Step again with your right foot, this time placing your foot about a foot and a half back behind yourself. Then step in place with your left. The Basic swing step consists of these four steps that you have just done. Tempo wise, the four steps should be performed in a "slow, slow, quick, quick" pattern, meaning the last two steps are done faster than the first two (half the time.)
Do a triple-step. So far you have been doing a “single-step” swing step. You may feel the single-step is too slow for certain songs, and that you have time left in the music for extra steps. Instead of the “slow, slow, quick, quick,” add two extra steps into the time allotted for each slow step. Begin, by stepping “right, left, right”, instead of just, right, and then, “left, right, left,” instead of just left. Your new tempo will be, “1,2,3, 1,2,3, quick, quick.” Be sure you're doing the three steps quickly in the time designated for one slow step (see Resources for video.
Once you've mastered the basic step, you can add turns, spins, and even lifts, and flips. Just keep the same tempo throughout, with the feet moving, and fit the fancy stuff in between.