It's an option yes. not looking. you don't have to make eye contact. there was an interview 2 years ago where [John Hendrickson talks about his stutter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xilS9aKha10). he does look but not in the middle of blocking. he looks elsewhere. I'd have looked elsewhere the entire time because my god, the way the interviewer's looking at him evangelically is intense. and then there's a singer on America's Got Talent who also blocks a lot. she just closes her eyes while blocking. or that's what she used to do. [in her recent speech last year](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTBzgSRwvME), she's looking at her script in the middle of blocking. eye contact is overrated anyway.