THIBODAUX — In a classroom at Nicholls State University, the tension Friday was palpable. The eyes of about 30 students and teachers were glued to a video-projector screen. What they saw drew a variety of reactions: from grimaces and heckling to cheers and fist-pumps.

But the live video they watched wasn’t a football game or a cage match; it was a pair of people sitting at a table, talking.

This was the Bayou Sales Challenge, an annual competition where the goal is to see who can make the best sales pitch.

In its seventh year, the event draws students in sales and marketing programs from colleges across the state. Rather than exams or traditional interviews, competitors are judged how well they role-play through a sales pitch.

“It’s good to get outside the classroom and apply” the lessons they’d learned, said Joseph LaBauve, a 23-year-old competitor from the University of Louisiana.

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By Daniel McBride