How Do You Read Your Authority Image Audit Results?
You uploaded your photo, told the Audit what you want people to see, and now your results are in front of you. What do you actually do with them?
My answer is simple: make one good decision. Not ten. One. Here is how I would read your results, section by section, and what I would do next.
What should I read first?
Read the line at the top. It is your own intention, written back to you from the choices you made. Something like: "You want people who find you on LinkedIn and on your speaker page to see you as credible, warm, and experienced."
Right under it, the Audit says: "Everything below is measured against that intention."
That line is the key to everything that follows. Nothing in your results is a judgment about whether you are attractive, polished enough, or "doing it right." Each observation is about whether your image is helping the qualities you chose come through in the places you chose. If your intention changes, the reading changes too.
What do I do with What's Working?
Keep it. Then use it on purpose.
What's Working opens first, because I want you to see what is helping before you see anything else. It might name an expression that supports the warmth you wanted, a crop that keeps you recognizable at a small size, or a setting that adds context about your work. Sometimes it also notes what is leading the first impression.
People tend to skip right past this part to look for the problem. Please don't. What's Working tells you what to protect when you make changes. If your eye contact is doing a lot for you, you want that in your next image too. Write it down and bring it to your next session, or use it as a filter when you choose between photos you already have.
What do I do with Something to Consider?
Treat it as a question, not a correction.
This section may point to a difference between what you intended and what is coming through, or to a quality that is leading the first impression more than the ones you chose. It may also be honest when one photograph does not give enough to tell.
None of that means the photo is bad. Often it means the photo has a different job than the one you are asking it to do. I wrote about that in A Good Photo Can Have the Wrong Job. A formal portrait can be exactly right for a board page and a little distant on a consulting website where you want approachable to come through.
So ask yourself: is this about the image, the place, or the words around it?
What is in What's Next?
When there is something useful to try, the Audit includes a What's Next section with practical suggestions and the reason behind each one. Read those with your own intention in mind. You are still the one deciding which suggestion fits the season you are in.
Can I use photos I already own?
Very often, yes. Before you book anything, try this:
Pull together the professional photos you already have, including outtakes from past sessions.
Look at each one at the size people will actually see it. On LinkedIn that can be very small.
Using What's Working as your guide, choose the image that best keeps those strengths.
Check it against Something to Consider. Does it answer that question better than your current photo?
Match each image to a place. Your closest, clearest portrait might lead LinkedIn, while a wider frame works better on your website or speaker page.
Read your headline and About section next to the photo and see whether they tell the same story.
If you have a strong candidate, swap it in and run the Audit again with the new image. The results page itself asks, "New image. New first impression?"
When is it time for a new session?
If you go through your library and nothing matches the intention you chose, that is useful information too. It usually means your work has moved and your images have not caught up. That is when a session makes sense, because now you can walk in with a real brief instead of a vague feeling.
Bring your results with you. You can download your Audit as a PDF or get a copy by email. In my experience, the most productive sessions start with a client who already knows what they want to keep and what they want to change.
What if I disagree with something?
Good. Say so, even if only to yourself. A photograph is a fraction of a second, and the Audit is not the final word on who you are. If an observation surprises you, ask a colleague who knows your work what they see. Sometimes the disagreement itself shows you what matters most to you.
Your results are a mirror for a decision, not a verdict on a person.
