Avoid looking into bright lights to preserve your night vision. This will allow you to see some of the fainter meteors.
Don't scan the sky; look in one general direction – many pros suggest finding the constellation from which the meteors appear to be traveling, then look in the opposite direction. The spot in the sky the meteor trails lead back to is called the radiant, and it tends to lie near the constellation for which the meteor shower is named: Leo (the Leonids), Gemini (the Geminids), etc.
This is a naked-eye activity; binoculars or telescopes won't help.
