What Does the Authority Image Audit Look At?
When I tell people about the Authority Image Audit™, one of the first questions I hear is some version of "So it rates my headshot?"
No. And the reason why says a lot about how I think photographs work.
The Audit was built around one question I ask every person before I ever pick up a camera: what do you want your image to communicate? Everything it looks at, and everything it leaves alone, comes back to that. Here are the questions I hear most, answered plainly.
What does the Audit ask before it looks at my photo?
It starts with you, not the picture. The first step is called Your Intention, and it opens with a simple line: every image has a job.
You add your name and your role. Then the Audit asks three things:
Where does this image need to work hardest for you? You can choose places like LinkedIn, your website or bio page, a speaker page, press or media, a board or leadership page, or social media.
When someone sees you online, what do you want them to see? You pick words such as credible, approachable, confident, warm, experienced, authoritative, innovative, energetic, or polished, or write your own.
How confident are you that your current image is communicating that?
That last question is one of my favorites. One of the answers you can choose is "That's exactly why I'm here." I love that it is on the list, because that is an honest place to start.
What does it look at once I add my image?
Next, you add the image you actually use online, the one on LinkedIn, your website, or your social media. You can also paste your LinkedIn headline and About section, and leave a note with anything that helps. The Audit's own example note says it well: "This photo is six years old. I'm moving toward keynote speaking."
You need at least one of those, an image or your LinkedIn words, so there is something to look at. If you share both, the Audit can consider whether the photograph and the words beside it are making the same introduction.
Does the Audit judge how I look?
No. Right under the upload box, the Audit says your image is "audited for the signals it communicates, never for appearance."
That distinction matters to me. A photograph can show where someone is looking, how the crop frames them, what the setting adds, and how the expression reads at the size people will actually see it. Those are signals. Whether you are attractive, young enough, or "photogenic" is not the question, and the Audit does not go there.
It also does not read a single cue as a verdict. A head tilt or a look away from the lens means different things depending on everything around it. I wrote more about that in Why One Cue Never Tells the Whole Story.
Why doesn't it give me a number?
Because a number would need a standard, and the only standard that matters here is yours. A warm, relaxed portrait might be exactly right for a consultant who wants to feel approachable and completely off for someone stepping onto a board page. Same photo, different job.
So the Audit measures what comes through against what you said you wanted. When your results open, the first thing you see is your own intention, written back to you from the choices you made, followed by one line: "Everything below is measured against that intention." I explained the thinking behind that decision in Why the Authority Image Audit Does Not Score You.
What do I get back?
Your Audit is organized into sections you can open one at a time.
What's Working names what is already helping your intention come through. It opens first, on purpose. The good news should not be hidden behind a tap.
Something to Consider points to a place where the image may be leading with something other than what you meant, or where there is a difference worth thinking about. It may also say plainly when one photograph does not give enough to tell whether a quality is coming through.
What's Next, when there is something useful to suggest, offers practical next steps.
You can download your Audit as a PDF, and you can also get a copy by email.
Who is the Audit for?
In my experience, it is most useful for people whose photograph does real work for them: leaders, founders, speakers, consultants, and anyone whose next opportunity often begins with someone looking them up. You do not need to know photography terms. You only need to know what you hope people see.
What is it not?
It is not a personality test, a beauty contest, or a prediction of how every single person will react to you. A photograph is a fraction of a second. You remain the authority on who you are. The Audit simply helps you see whether your image is saying it too.
