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Step 1
Recognize that many people use the terms interchangeably, but technically, slander is something spoken while libel appears in writing. A reporter speaking at an association meeting might slander a politician, but if he puts it in a newspaper article, it's libel.
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Step 2
Know that both of these little gems come from Latin. Slander entered the English language first as a "cause of offense." Libel later arrived as "a published or written statement that can damage a reputation."
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Step 3
Realize that for slander or libel to take place, someone must establish the information as false. Calling someone a thief who's charged and convicted for stealing isn't slander or libel, but the truth.
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Step 4
Consider that when you write about slander or libel, you're writing about something that can harm a person's reputation. The lawyers call it "defamation of character." Under most circumstances, people don't consider describing someone as nice as slander or libel because it doesn't harm a reputation.
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Step 5
Use care when writing things for the Internet. Writing harmful things seen only on the Internet can still be libel or rather, cyber libel. This murky area will probably be fought in the courtrooms as people charge bloggers and other people posting on the Internet with libel.
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Step 6
Write about libel and slander in their correct context, with slander as something someone said and libel written in print. However, any statements in your writing that you can't prove and could harm a person's reputation are libel. As a relatively fixed form, writing is always libel.
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Step 7
Bear in mind that one of the most important differences between slander and libel is that libel is a criminal offense that, if proven, results in rather hefty fines.
