This afternoon I spent an enjoyable evening..
Strange beginning aside a very interesting post. I've worked with both types of presenters : Fireside chat types with no real script and stick-to-the-script features & benefits types.
My experience is that both can be effective sales techniques but it really depends on the group you are presenting to. Smaller, can-do type companies or groups generally warm to the "how can we solve your problem" approach, have a disdain for Powerpoint and want to know about you as a provider.
Bureaucracies and larger groups generally feel more at home with the Powerpoint and Features & Benefits talk. They are often working from a checklist and objective measures of a product or service and want to check them off as they see them. The fireside chat just frustrates them and (they feel) wastes their time.
I'd also be interested in seeing your fathers article on password security!
Hello Ian - thanks for the comment (and pointing out my dumb starting line) !
I worked in sales for ten years for a small independent builders merchant, for several years as sales manager for one of the branches. Although we *could* compete with the nationals on price (in a commodity market), our business model was based on building relationships with our customers. We certainly never used powerpoint 
Michael
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