1) Sort out who or what you mean when you say God - Most of the conversations about "god" that I have seen or been a part of have been about entirely different "gods". You cannot have a debate about two entirely different entities while thinking you're talking about the same thing. If you're talking about the God of the Bible then you need to establish the Trinity first and foremost, because the God of the Bible is three persons, Father, Son and Spirit, as one God and His entire identity is built around that fact. Think about it, if two people are trying to have a conversation, but one is talking about surrealist art and the other is talking about water bears (look them up, they are so cool), it's just not going to work, and both people will probably go away thinking the other is an idiot.
2) Be honest - if you don't know why you think something, say so. If you think that something's stupid, say so (but nicely and with explanation).
3) Listen, being patient and sincere - your conversation isn't going to go anywhere without patient and sincere listening.
4) Get on the same page with your definitions - when I say, "faith", I don't mean belief without evidence, when I say, "religion", I don't mean Christianity. Unless you know what each other means, you'll be having entirely different conversations (kind of like point 1).
5) Set a point to your debate and stick to it - conversations can easily devolve into meaningless and irrelevant blatherings. If you're talking about Heaven, for example, don't start talking about whether or not there can be such a thing as a perfect apple (this actually happened to me once, I was just as much to blame as the other person (if not more), and it completely ruined our conversation). Make it clear what you want to talk about at the start, and if the conversation drifts too far then pull it back, even if it leaves unanswered questions.
6) Don't just have one conversation - it's in most people's nature to resist change, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary of what they believe. Not only that, but conversations like this often say lots of things with lots of content in each thing. Basically, people need time to process. One conversation rarely achieves anything, and you'll probably need to spend most of it getting on the same page about what you each believe, so make sure you talk more than once.
7) Don't always worry about the fact that the other person might want you to change your mind/"convert you" - People usually have debates because they care about truth/the other person and they want that person to agree with them. Note that doesn't mean that they want to force you to think the way they do. In fact they almost certainly don't want to force you, because otherwise they probably wouldn't be debating with you. Actually, the fact that someone is taking the time to talk with you probably shows that they really care about you.
8) Be logical, structure your conversation and make a visible note of the points that each of you makes - these things are really helpful for getting a conversation to go somewhere, and also for making sure that you don't forget, repeat or contradict the things you have already established. Not only that, but people tend to need "more than a feeling" to entirely change their "world-view", and are not likely to be convinced by illogical, unsubstantiated arguments. Talking through the logic and evidence behind what you believe, even if that wasn't originally what brought you to think the way you do, can really help.
9) I know it's the same point again, but it really does matter... Make sure you each know what the other actually believes - otherwise you'll be having entirely different conversations, and it just won't work.
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