Marking Pauses and Overlaps
Launch library · evergreen read
A pause before an answer, or two speakers talking over each other, carries information that a purely word for word transcript can lose entirely. Marking these moments, even with a simple bracketed note, preserves a layer of meaning that flat text alone tends to erase.
The convention used matters less than consistency: whether pauses are marked with an ellipsis or a bracketed note, whatever system is chosen should be applied the same way throughout a transcript, so a later reader can trust that a marked pause always means the same thing.
This kind of detail matters most in interviews where hesitation itself is part of the story: a subject working through a difficult memory, or two people talking past each other in a tense exchange. In simpler conversations, it may be safely simplified without much loss. In simpler exchanges, where hesitation carries little weight, this extra care can reasonably be relaxed.