Transistor

How do you get this to work the OP didn't even tell what transistor he was having problems with.

I remember when I was a kid and tube's where king I read about transistor's and I got my hands on one and it
was a big power transistor I hooked it up as a amp to a crystal set and my speaker didn't put out sound.

I wasn't driving the base with a enough current to turn it on.