I see this technique everywhere, but I guess I haven’t found the right terms to search for what it’s called or why it’s so ubiquitous in certain types of video.

If you follow people who produce video essay-type content that features them speaking directly to the camera, they will often cut in and out from “closer” views of themselves to add visual emphasis to lines. Some keep it subtle enough that you might not even notice it, while others pepper it all over the place to the point that it looks like they’re bouncing off the camera when you slide through the preview.

Is this a commonly taught/known technique, or is there just some template for it built into popular video editing packages?

For anyone else who didn’t notice it before and can’t un-see it now, I’m sorry.