How to Use Your Imagery Profile at Work

You've taken the assessment and have an Imagery Profile—a snapshot of how strongly you imagine in visual, auditory, motor, and other senses. What do you do with it at work? Research and practice suggest that imagery profiles can support communication, rehearsal, and team alignment when you use them deliberately. This post is a practical guide: how to apply your profile, how to work with teams that have mixed profiles, and what the evidence says about imagery in the workplace.

Use Your Profile to Choose How You Prepare

Your profile tells you which channels are strongest for you. Use that when you prepare for important moments.

• Strong visual imagination: You may find it helpful to picture the room, the people, or the outcome before a meeting or pitch. Mental rehearsal in images can support focus and reduce anxiety when the situation matches what you imagined.
• Strong auditory imagination: Rehearse by "hearing" yourself speak—the tone, the pace, the key phrases. Read your notes or script aloud internally or out loud. That can make your actual delivery more consistent and clear.
• Strong motor imagination: Rehearse the feel of the situation—how you'll sit, gesture, or move. Motor imagery is well supported for performance in sports and performing; the same idea applies to presentations, difficult conversations, or any moment where body and presence matter.
• Low visual imagery: You're not at a disadvantage. Use verbal rehearsal (bullet points, script, self-talk), written outlines, or physical practice (e.g. walking through the room, saying it out loud). The goal is preparation in the modality that works for you.

Research on thought self-leadership links self-talk and mental imagery to individual and team performance, cognitive control, and decision-making. So "rehearsing" in your strongest sense—whether that's images, words, or movement—is a legitimate way to get ready. Imagination styles at work goes deeper on how different profiles show up for designers, writers, and problem-solvers.

Apply Imagery to Communication and Empathy

Studies on imagery in workplace and leadership contexts suggest that multisensory mental rehearsal can support empathy and self-awareness. Imagining the other person's perspective, the conversation from their side, or a high-pressure scenario before it happens can make messages more resonant and supportive. That doesn't mean everyone needs to "visualize" the audience—if your strength is auditory or verbal, you might rehearse by hearing their possible objections or your own answers in words. The principle is the same: use your profile to rehearse the social and emotional content of the interaction, not only the content of the message.

Programs that combine empathic conversation with multisensory imagery (e.g. setting expectations, building connection, defining values) have been used in leadership and team development, with reported benefits for communication, stress, and resilience. So treating your Imagery Profile as a guide for how you prepare—not just what you say—can align with what the research describes.

Share Profiles to Improve Team Alignment

Teams often assume everyone "imagines" the same way. They don't. How you imagine affects how you prefer to receive information (diagrams vs. bullet points vs. spoken explanation), how you plan (visual vs. list vs. procedural), and how you give feedback. When team members know their own profile and can name it simply ("I'm strong on visual, weak on auditory" or "I need to see it written"), communication can improve. You can ask for the format that works for you and offer formats that work for others—e.g. "Can we put that on a whiteboard?" or "Can you talk me through it so I can hear the flow?"

That doesn't require everyone to take the same assessment. It only requires a shared language: we have different imagination styles, and we can adapt how we share information. Profiling tools that assess team communication dynamics and cognitive diversity are used in some organizations to tailor how teams work together; your own profile is a starting point for the same idea—knowing yourself and asking for what you need.

Use Imagery for Safety and Alignment When It Fits

In occupational and safety contexts, research has looked at how imagery-based messaging affects attitudes and behavior. For example, risk-focused imagery (imagining hazards or consequences) can increase perceived susceptibility to risks; recommendation-focused imagery (imagining yourself doing the right behavior) can improve attitudes toward safety, intentions to share information, and how messages are perceived—with effects partly mediated by how easily people can form the image. So when you're communicating about safety, procedures, or compliance, pairing clear instructions with imagery that fits your audience (e.g. "picture yourself doing X" for those who can, or "walk through the steps in your head" for those who prefer motor or verbal rehearsal) may help. Again, not everyone has strong visual imagery; offering multiple ways to "rehearse" (see it, hear it, do it in your head) can include everyone.

Limitations to Keep in Mind

Effects of imagery in the workplace can depend on individual imagery vividness. People with low or no visual imagery may benefit less from "picture the outcome"–style prompts and more from verbal, written, or motor-based rehearsal. So when you use imagery-based techniques in a team, don't assume one size fits all. Use your profile—and, if possible, a shared understanding of different profiles—to offer multiple entry points. And as with any habit, repeated use helps; research suggests that without practice, people may revert to old patterns, so building rehearsal into your routine (e.g. before key meetings or difficult conversations) is part of making it stick.

Practical Summary

• Use your profile to choose how you prepare: visual, auditory, motor, or verbal rehearsal depending on where you're strong.
• Rehearse the social and emotional side of important conversations, not only the content—using the sense that works for you.
• Share that profiles differ so your team can adapt formats (whiteboard, written, spoken) and reduce misunderstanding.
• Offer multiple ways to "rehearse" when you're leading communication or safety—so people with different imagery strengths can engage.
• Revisit your profile when you want to refine how you work; the Imagination Index assessment gives you a baseline you can use over time.

Get or Revisit Your Profile

If you haven't yet taken the assessment, or you want to revisit your profile, the Imagination Index assessment takes about 12 minutes and gives you a profile across six senses. Use it to see where you're strong—and then apply the strategies above at work.

Further reading: Imagination styles at work; Mental imagery for athletes and performers; Thought self-leadership, self-talk, and mental imagery (SE); Imagery and workplace communication – Business Chief.