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One thing I love about the Italian language (languages, really, but that's beside the point) is that all Italians use hand gestures as part of their language. There are more than 250 of them that have been identified. I used quite a few of them to great effect when I was in Italy and I found it fun and rewarding. I ended up asking one of my tour guides about Italian hand gestures, specifically, I asked her, "Are Italian hand gestures a subset of ISL (Italian sign language)?" I got lucky: she had actually worked with deaf Italians and was familiar with ISL, so she was able to confidently answer me, "No", and, in fact, she told me that some hand gestures that Italians use will be interpreted differently based on which city or region of Italy you are in.

Ultimately, body language is part of something called "metacommunication". To make the argument short: we don't respond to the messages that people send, we respond to the metamessages. The authority on this subject is a linguist named Deborah Tannen. I know your interest is more in body language, specifically with regards to deaf people, but just in case you might be interested: https://www.amazon.com/Thats-What-Meant-Conversational-Relationships-ebook/dp/B007OWRB6I/

First and foremost, realize that they will be in human in their response, in all of their flawed and weird and emotional ways.

In my experience, you will likely come across Christians in many different stages of journey of knowledge and understanding. Some may be very defensive, others may be more open. My advice is to understand what is driving their defensiveness and then you can get them to be more open and thoughtful, which is the point of SE.

Realize that their livelihood and/or their families are tied to maintaining their belief, and you coming in to ask hard questions puts that at risk. Take a look at Daniel Dennet's book, Caught in the Pulpit, to understand the strain this can put on them. https://www.amazon.com/Caught-Pulpit-Leaving-Belief-Behind-ebook/dp/B00UQYA12M/

You may be surprised to find that many may be more open and "liberal" in their theology that their churches. It depends on how much and what they studied in seminary. But many of the things that they learned, they cant share from the pulpit without getting fired. So they may appreciate being able to talk to you about it, but you may still represent a threat if you were to blab to others in the congregation. In the end, you may also discover how they manage the cognitive dissonance for things in Christianity that just don't make logical sense. Of course, the reason isn't that its all false, it's because its beyond our understanding. /s

I had one person describe it as "transrational". Not that it is irrational, just that it is beyond rationality.

Just realize that your SE approach may face an uphill battle, when so much is at stake for them. That isn't to say that it isn't worth the effort. I agree wholeheartedly in what you are attempting to do. Just go into it understanding the emotional stakes, and don't forget to address those, or at least help them realize the emotional stakes that may be clouding their judgement.

edit: I forgot to mention to look out for those who approach it from the realization that saying anything to convince you to join the church will increase their own paycheck if you join and start giving. This is their livelihood, so I have seen preachers adopt different theological positions depending on what they think the other person wants, as long as you join their church.

I think what you're saying makes sense, but what you're trying to do doesn't. You seem to be approaching atheism/skepticism kind of like a religion, in saying that you're new, want to become an atheist and want to work towards mastery etc. This makes total sense if you've just come out of a religion, of course. I would've thought the same thing. But in fact it's more of a de-programming than a re-programming. I think what you mean is that you've decided to de-program yourself of certain ways of thinking.

If there's anything useful that could be mastered in this sphere, one thing would be developing a knowledge of the cognitive traps that people can fall into so you can avoid them (not just with religion, but any irrational glitch the brain tends to come up with). You may enjoy:

• David McRaney – You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself (this was life-changing for me – get the audiobook, it's fantastic)
  
• Michael Shermer – The Believing Brain: From Spiritual Faiths to Political Convictions – How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths (haven't read this myself but heard lots of good things)

I think we may agree then. I agree that there is a ton of unrecognized bias and it's important to help people understand their own biases and how they affect their decisions.

Have you read the book Thinking Fast and Slow? I enjoyed it a lot.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NL74KR2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1