Calling the occasional gig again after uh, everything, and I'm finally inspired to iron out a bit of my beginners' lesson that I've always just fudged in the past: when calling gender-neutral, how do you have the beginners pick roles?

My spiel is generally, "we have these two roles, they're almost entirely the same with some small differences, pick one and stick with it for a few dances just to start and then you can try the other if you want, the most important thing is knowing which role you are for a given dance."

In my lesson, I alternately:

1. say "whoever's standing on the right of this couple right now, that's the robin" and then teach the swing in those roles
   
2. tell folks "decide who's the lark and who's the robin" with no particular context and they pick arbitrarily
3. teach both sides of the swing and let them choose roles based on which swing feels more comfortable

But it feels clunky and awkward every time.

I'm curious if others have similar experiences, or things they do in their lessons that feel effective at getting people into one role (for now) with a minimum of confusion. Hit me with your wisdom!