The first thing people ask about is always the camera. It's rarely what makes the shot.
I check the aurora forecast and cloud cover the same evening, not the day before — the outlook changes fast this far north. Then I find a spot away from light pollution, ideally with something in the foreground: a road, a tree, a person. The aurora on its own quickly becomes a photo you've already seen a hundred times.
I shoot with a long shutter and low ISO where I can, on a solid tripod — wind on the mountainside means even small movements show up. And then I wait. The best displays rarely arrive right away.