Start with a question they have not heard from a Christian in years: “What would count as evidence for you?” Then be quiet long enough to hear the real answer.
Most people are not sitting on a stack of journal articles. They are sitting on a wound, a hypocrite, or a cartoon of God they were handed in youth group.
You do not need to solve the problem of evil with a whiteboard in twelve minutes. You need to be the first Christian who did not flinch, did not sneer, and did not change the subject to politics.
Books say a lot of things. You gotta make the choice yourself — and so do they. Your job is to make sure the choice is about Jesus, not about you.