Your perception/suspicion is pretty much right on. The editor has utilized pauses in the dialog, along with the shooter re-framing either while the talent is pausing for thought, or by using a pre-arranged cue for the talent so he/she will know to wait until the signal to resume.
Editors have also been known to remove unnecessary commentary between lines when the shooter has pushed in or zoomed in a bit, or out, to change the POV (point of view) – it does take some good reflexes and an understanding/knowledge of the intended script to work better. Of course a presenter/talent who speaks well from memory or without notes either will make the tempo too tight to work this way, or will be professional enough to establish a nice pace that can be worked with in post.
