Article: When talking to someone who believes in God, don't spend the entire conversation waiting to argue your point of view. Instead, be present for the conversation by listening actively and constructively. When someone tells you something, paraphrase what they just said to show you understand. Ask questions to move the conversation forward, instead of letting it stall out. Be empathetic and acknowledge the other person's feelings. Sometimes, different people have different definitions of what God actually is. Before you engage in a conversation with someone who believes in God, make sure you're both defining God in the same way. Ask the person you're talking with to clarify what their God entails before getting into a theological discussion. Check in at different points in the conversation to make sure you're still on the same page. This will prevent you from arguing over one another. Regardless of how persuasive your argument is, the person you're talking with is probably not going to leave the conversation an atheist. Treat your conversation like a religious exploration and you may both leave having learned something new. Ask questions that challenge your partner's beliefs, but do so because you're interested, not because you're trying to trip them up. If the other person makes a good point, tell them. Learning about God should not be a competition.

What is a summary?
Practice active listening. Make sure you're both defining God the same way. Have a collaborative conversation, not a confrontation.