Don't fill the silence
It's easy to want to fill an awkward silence. However, a pause in conversation is often a time for reflection. When conducting research, and maybe even in normal conversations, try to trust your questions and avoid filling the silence after asking a question. Just wait and listen.
My experience is that it's very easy to follow a nice open-ended question such as "How do you feel about it now?" with all sorts of qualifications or assumptions because silence feels uncomfortable.
It can quickly become, "How do you feel about it now?... I guess it must have been hard for you, right?" And instead of giving someone space to share a thoughtful answer of your open-ended question all you might get is a "Yes" and perhaps your chance of finding out what they really thought has gone.
Instead, have faith in what you ask and stick out the silence.
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