In Lieu of Ado
It's not uncommon for a presenter, be it someone in a meeting, or a toastmaster, or a master of ceremonies to use the phrase, "So without further ado..." to transition between sections of an event.
It's a bit an overused trope, don't you think? It's also a bit lazy, but I get it. It a clause that sounds just sophisticated enough that we, as speakers, hope that the audience will value us a little bit more. Or, probably more often, we do it because we're uncomfortable making transitions between slides or portions of a meeting and the commonplace nature of the idiom is, well, comfortable.
So what can you do to replace it with something more original and without feeling too awkward?
I suspect most people use the clause for the simple reason of it being a socially acceptable shortcut. Our brains require little brain power to pull it up, get it out, and convey a lot of meaning to our audience. That's what we do as humans.
Consider instead starting with a Pause (with a capital P!). Let the drama build just for a moment, then say, "Moving on...," or "In the next portion of our meeting," or "I'm excited to get going/move on...." The Pause is a key element to making this work. It establishes a break for the audience and takes advantage of a minor flaw in our psychology... we forget things particularly quickly.
Yup. In that brief moment of you taking a breath (and perhaps scanning the crowd), the part of an audience member's brain that was taking in what you just said, file it away (perhaps to be lost forever, but hopefully not) and because you've Paused... their brains will be waiting for a context switch or additional information (obviously, you're delivering a context switch). You deliver such a switch, and voila, the audience's subconscious expectations are fulfilled. They've already "forgotten" that you've just done the introduction.
I guarantee, with practice, such a transition will not be awkward. Give a it a try next time; try out something new! Sometimes, you can take context for the transition clause from your audience or what you know is coming up next. For example, if I'm about to introduce a new speaker, after initial introductions, I'll mention how excited I am to hear what they have to say.
(Pro-tip: Most of the time, you'll know that their will be a transition coming up - prepare for it when you're organizing the event or working on your slide deck. Don't let an opportunity to shine uniquely pass you by).
Let go of ado. Embrace the new.
Adieu!
p.s.
For fun, here's a link with some historical context for "So without further ado..."
And for formality's sake, the wiktionary link: