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At work, I would naturally use the above line as a transition. What equivalent
phrases can I use in Japanese?

I could come up only with a quite literal translation:

> 真面目に言うと
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translation idioms
"On a more serious note" equivalent expression in Japanese
Jitsu ni.

Informally speaking.
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真面目な話  
マジな話 (slangy)

実に for this meaning is too old fashioned. I only see it in novels written in
several decades ago.
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> 「[真面目]{まじめ}に[言]{い}うと」

is **_not_** really the equivalent of " ** _on a more serious note_** " in
that the former cannot be used to introduce a new topic, which is what the
latter is used for.

「真面目に言うと」 can only be used when you want to describe in a more serious manner
the same thing that you have just described jokingly or half-jokingly.

If you want to move on from a non-serious topic to a rather serous one, you
could say:

> 「（もう[少]{すこ}し or もっと or ちょっと）真面目な[話]{はなし}を **すると** 」

or

> 「（もう少し or もっと or ちょっと）真面目な[話題]{わだい}に[変]{か}えると」

You could use 「シリアスな」 instead of 「真面目な」 with no problems.
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I like the expression "それより" which has the nuance of "more importantly..."
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